Extended breast-feeding can protect child against teenage eczema

According to a recent research, when infants are breastfed by the mother, they have fewer chances of developing eczema in their teenage years.

These findings were derived from an ongoing research, which is studying the benefits of breastfeeding among infants. It was found that women, who participated in breastfeeding, had only 3 in 10 infants, who developed eczema when compared to 7 out of 10 infants developing eczema in case of mothers, who did not participate in breastfeeding.

The World Health Organization (WHO) advises breastfeeding in infants from four to six months, which may provide resistance to allergies and other diseases.

For the study, investigators questioned around 13,000 recruits or new mothers in Belarus. All mothers started breastfeeding their infants right from the time of their birth. Half of the women received breastfeeding support in hospitals and adopted a baby-friendly program. The other half were in a standard care setting.

After the infants were examined for their eczema, it was found that incidence of eczema was less in case of infants, whose mothers received support for breastfeeding at the hospital. The study was published in the journal, JAMA Pediatrics.

If a mother wants to reduce the chance of her child to develop eczema in his/her teenage, then she can significantly reduce the risk, only by breastfeeding her child.

Source: drugs.com