Breast milk reduces the risk of asthma in young children

A study published in the American Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunity shows that babies who are breastfed for the first four months after birth will reduce their risk of asthma by the age of eight. .

Dr Inger Kull of Sweden's Karolinska Institute in Sweden said: "Breast milk is the best food source for babies in the first months after birth."

Through milk, mothers transmit "good" bacteria, antibodies and proteins to help babies avoid infection.

Dr. Kull and colleagues tracked nearly 4,000 children in more than eight years. The review results show that only about 12% of babies are breastfed for at least the first four months of symptoms with asthma, compared with 18% in breastfed babies. in a shorter time period.

Scientists also found that babies who were breastfed for the first four months or longer after birth reduced their risk of asthma by 37% after adjusting for other risk factors such as maternal Smoking and weight of your baby at birth.

In addition, feeding only babies with breast milk for extended periods of time can also help children have better lung function.

However, not all mothers want to breastfeed their babies or are able to breastfeed their babies only without the need for other supplements.

For these women, Dr. Kull said that even raising babies partially with breast milk also reduces the risk of asthma.