Relation between Breastfeeding and the Prevalence of Asthma : The Tokorozawa Childhood Asthma and Pollinosis Study

Abstract

Many risk factors for asthma have been proposed including age, gender (male), smoking, and family history of asthma. The importance of breastfeeding to childhood asthma is a controversial issue. The present study investigated the relation between breastfeeding and the prevalence of asthma among a childhood population. The subjects were 25,767 students, representing all public elementary and junior high schools in Tokorozawa, Japan (age range, 6--15 years). The study population included 2,315 students with asthma and 21,513 controls. Participants' parents completed the Japanese version of the American Thoracic Society and Division of Lung Diseases, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, questionnaire for children adopted by the Japanese Environmental Agency in 1998. The authors added supplementary questions on the parental history of asthma and feeding patterns from the age of 0--3 months. The risk of breastfeeding for asthma was compared with that of artificial feeding. After adjustment for age, gender, parental smoking status, and parental history of asthma, a significantly higher prevalence of asthma was noted among children who had been breastfed (adjusted odds ratio = 1.198; 95% confidence interval: 1.054, 1.363; p for trend < 0.01). The results indicated that breastfeeding in infancy might be related to the higher prevalence of asthma during preadolescence.

CFTR Gene Mutations and Asthma in Indian Children: A Case–Control Study

“…Similarly it was reported previously also that prevalence of asthma was low in children with exclusive breast feed compared to infants with partial breast feeding and formula milk [40][41][42]. Unlike these results, higher prevalence of asthma was found among children who had been breastfeed [43] and also reported that breastfeeding does not protect children against atopy and asthma and may even increase the risk [44]. Likewise, we observed caesarean mode of delivery was found significantly associated with asthma risk, as reported earlier also [45,46].…”

Breast-feeding and hospitalization for asthma in early childhood: a nationwide longitudinal survey in Japan

“…Two meta-analyses (4,5) and a recent study in New Zealand (6) reported that breastfeeding continued to be associated with decreased risk of asthma in children after cessation of breast-feeding. However, a large-scale randomized trial (7) and several observational studies (8)(9)(10)(11) found no effect or even an increased risk of asthma. The Japanese Pediatric Guideline for Food Allergy concluded that evidence was insufficient that exclusive breast-feeding had more preventive effects on allergy than partial breast-feeding (12) .…”

“…Although breast-feeding has long-term benefits for children's health such as prevention of overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes and improvement of cognitive function (1) , the protective effect of breast-feeding on asthma in childhood still remains controversial (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11) . Two meta-analyses (4,5) and a recent study in New Zealand (6) reported that breastfeeding continued to be associated with decreased risk of asthma in children after cessation of breast-feeding.…”

Global strategy for the diagnosis and management of asthma in children 5 years and younger

“…Breastfeeding itself decreases early childhood wheezing syndromes associated with upper and lower respiratory infections. However, although recommended for its general health benefits, there is little evidence that breastfeeding prevents development of persistent asthma 9,[23][24][25] .…”