A study published by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reverses some earlier thinking that breastfeeding by mothers with asthma might increase the child's risk for the disease. The study found breastfeeding strengthens children's lungs, even if the mother has asthma. Here are details about breastfeeding and lung health in children.
* Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness, says the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Nine million children younger than 18 have been diagnosed with asthma. One in 10 school-age children has asthma and it is the third-leading cause of hospitalization in kids.
* According to Web MD, the AJRCCM conducted a long-term Children's Respiratory Study in 2007 in which kids were followed from birth through age 16 and periodically tested for lung functioning. Children of mothers without asthma who were breastfed longer than four months had stronger lung functioning. But children whose moms had asthma and were breastfed beyond 4 months showed a 6 percent decrease in lung strength.
* Physicians said at the time that though this represented a significant drop in lung functioning, it was probably not enough to warrant health care providers advising asthmatic mothers to limit breastfeeding to four months to avoid risk.
* In 2011, Science Daily reported on a study in the European Respiratory Journal that showed formula-fed babies had a 50 percent more wheezing episodes than babies who were exclusively breastfed until age six months. Babies who were given supplemental foods along with breast milk had a 20 percent greater risk for wheezing.
* The ARJCCM study revisited the 2007 and the 2011 findings to look for further links between breastfeeding and asthma, particularly in children whose mothers who had the disease and breastfed. Reuters Health reports 1,500 children were tested periodically up to age 14. Parents were also surveyed about breastfeeding habits, exposure to secondhand smoke and other environmental risks.
* The tests found children who were breastfed showed greater lung volume, less air loss and better capacity to hold air. Children of mothers with asthma were able to hold more air if moms had breastfed them past age four months. Study authors said the findings weren't linked to fewer respiratory infections, but that stronger lungs meant less risk of developing asthma later.
Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben writes about parenting concerns from 23 years raising four children and 25 years teaching K-8, special needs, adult education and home-school.
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