what do u make of this. :O

Breastfeeding does not protect children against developing asthma or allergies

A large trial involving more than 13,000 women and children found no evidence of a protective effect.

Research has shown that breastfeeding helps to boost a baby's immune system and can help protect against respiratory infections.

Figures released in May showed that fewer than 1% of women in the UK follow Government advice to breast feed exclusively for the first six months.

The Infant Feeding Survey revealed that 76% of women in 2005 started out breastfeeding - up 7% from 2000.
But most had resorted to formula within weeks and fewer than half were still breastfeeding by the time their baby was six-weeks-old.

Only one in four women were still breastfeeding at six months.

Today's study was published ahead of print in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and involved babies born in 1996/7.

Mothers and babies were split into two groups, with the first having breastfeeding promoted and supported in the hospitals and polyclinics the women and children attended.

In the control group, the hospitals and clinics continued with their normal practices and policies.

Within the first group there was a large increase in the number of women breastfeeding exclusively at three months and they also breastfed for longer.

The researchers followed up the children when they were aged six.

Allergy testing

At this point, they were tested for asthma and most of them had skin prick tests for allergies to the house dust mite, cats, birch pollen, and mixed grasses.

The Canadian researchers, led by Dr Michael Kramer from The Montreal Children's Hospital, said: "Whether breastfeeding protects against the development of allergy and asthma has been frequently studied and hotly debated for more than 70 years.''

But they concluded: "The results from this large cluster randomised trial indicate that the experimental intervention to promote breastfeeding did not reduce the risk of asthma, hay fever, or eczema at age 6.5 years despite large increases in the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding.

The researchers said public health measures to increase breastfeeding seemed unlikely to have had a major impact on reducing the level of hereditary conditions such as asthma or eczema.

It is one researchers findings - and I think that is is another reason for some women to give not to breastfeed.

It is interesting but BF has so many other benefits and asthma is in a lot of cases due to environmental factors was this taken into account in the trial!?

I would like to see results of this allegry research. Black on white. I have feeling this is another partial information taken out of bigger one.

What site did you get this from?

Looks like a load of stuff some bottlefeeding parents did

I know that comments really bitchy but come on, what are they on about:scratch:

Heres what I like to hear!

The introduction of milk other than mother's milk too early in infancy may increase the risk of developing asthma , a new Professor at the University of Leicester claims.
Children who are exclusively breast fed for at least the first four months are less prone to developing asthma or related ill health, a study involving Professor Paul Burton discovered.

www.le.ac.uk/press/press/milkasthma.html+breastfeeding+prevents+asthma&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=uk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:sCZ7AZguTLoJ:www.le.ac.uk/press/press/milkasthma.html+breastfeeding+prevents+asthma&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=uk

That is something I like to hear!

natsha i got that from gm.tv

OMG!gm-tv thats crazy no wonder bf trends are so low!

yeah just gone bck on it to try and find the link and cant find it now

i went on yesterday cos i saw it advertised on the website through the tv, so went to look and there it was

What! right I think we should all team up and complain to gmtv! this is disgusting!!

Whos with me

Thats nothing,Tasha,,,the same article was in Telegraph, but if you click on the link I have from girls in ABM, it doesn't work... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/12/nwomen212.xm


Fishy, isn't it>
But I have copy of their article anyway,

Breastfeeding anti-allergy theory 'flawed'

By Sarah Womack, Social Affairs Correspondent

Last Updated: 2:25am BST 12/09/2007


Breastfeeding does not protect children against asthma and allergies such as
eczema or hay fever, according to a major new study.

Research among more than 17,000 women shows Government measures to increase
breastfeeding are unlikely to have a major impact on reducing such
conditions as children grow up, say experts.

The seven-year study, led by a team from Montreal Children's Hospital,
overturns previous theories - still promoted by the Government - that
infants breastfed exclusively at the start of life are significantly
protected from these illnesses.

The results indicated that large increases in the duration and exclusivity
of breastfeeding did not reduce the risk of asthma, hay fever or eczema at
6.5 years.

Those behind the new study, published today on the British Medical Journal's
website, say their work shows the importance of "investigating other causes"
for recent upsurges in diseases like asthma.

Dr Michael Kramer, of Montreal Children's Hospital, said governments should
reassess the advice they give on breastfeeding's "protective abilities",
while stressing that it is still important in terms of children's healthy
brain development ability to fight infection.

I'm trying to search Medical Journal right now for original research abstract, but its very slowly working; i'll update later.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj.39304.464016.AEv1
There you go...I'm trying to read it now

It doesn't say for how long tested children were bf...

thing is its so hard to test that kind of thing cos theyre obviously not taking into account all sorts of other factors, my son was bf and was really ill with both eczema and asthma when he was younger he had all sorts of allergies too, i always say it would have been ALOT worse if i hadnt bf, at least his immune system was built up, hes now one of the healthiest and fittest at his school! there could have been lots of factors for his illness- traumatic birth, not finding out i was pg til 4 mth gone, i worked at a hospital til i was 8mths, i also smoked and drank until i found out (i was student nurse!) my other kids dont have asthma or eczema, oh they also have a different father!

Ang, I agree: genetics and pregnancy make big mark on do we have allergies or not. :aww:

You know me BB I like a good complaint!! :pml:

well i am going to do some more research into this, im not happy.

Then depending on what ive found I think we should team up and make a bloomin good letter of complaint!

im with you tasha..

here my other boys have asthma, so will see how bailey gets on cos im :boob: