2006 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
DOES BREAST FEEDING PROTECT AGAINST ASTHMA & OTHER ATOPIC DISEASES
Dr Mohammed Herrag, Dr Fouad Nia, Dr Hassan Essbai.
Pulmonology- allergology service, Ibn -Sina university hospital, Rabat,
Morocco.
RATIONALE: Breast feeding is associated with
the lowest asthma and allergic disorders rates and it significantly reduces the
severity of respiratory illnesses during the first year of life.
Methods: we had included questions related to breast feeding in the
ISAAC questionnaires (the international study of asthma and allergies in
childhood) to see the outcome of allergic diseases in both groups: breast
feeding and non breast feeding
Results: Mean (S.D) age: 9 years, weight: 30 kg and height: 135.6 cm.
Children breastfed more than 8 months had significantly lower prevalence rates
of persistent cough in the past year, ever rhinitis, rhinitis in the past year,
and itchy-watery eyes in the past year than those who were not breastfed (18%
vs 25%; 22% vs 32%; 15% vs 23%; and 6.5% vs 14.2%, respectively). Incidency was
lower of asthma and wheeze in breastfed children than those who were not
breastfed (asthma: 2.5y vs 4.5 y; 2.2y vs 3.9y, respectively). Significantly
higher proportion of children who breastfed more than 8 months were resolved
from asthma, wheeze and eczema than those who breastfed less than 8 months (89%
vs 76%; 90.7% vs 77.2%, and 97.4% vs 82.2%, respectively).
Conclusions:
Our Study shows the impact of breast feeding for at least 8 months in
protecting and reducing the prevalence of allergic disorders.