title: Duration and exclusiveness of breastfeeding and childhood asthma-related symptoms.
abstract: The aim of our study was to examine the associations of breastfeeding duration and exclusiveness with the risks of asthma-related symptoms in preschool children, and to explore whether these associations are explained by atopic or infectious mechanisms. This study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study of 5,368 children. Information on breastfeeding duration, exclusiveness and asthma-related symptoms, including wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm, was obtained by questionnaires. Compared with children who were breastfed for 6 months, those who were never breastfed had overall increased risks of wheezing, shortness of breath, dry cough and persistent phlegm during the first 4 yrs (OR 1.44 (95% CI 1.24-1.66), 1.26 (1.07-1.48), 1.25 (1.08-1.44) and 1.57 (1.29-1.91), respectively). Similar associations were observed for exclusive breastfeeding. The strongest associations per symptom per year were observed for wheezing at 1 and 2 yrs. Additionally adjusted analyses showed that the associations of breastfeeding with asthma-related symptoms were not explained by eczema but partly by lower respiratory tract infections. Shorter duration and nonexclusivity of breastfeeding were associated with increased risks of asthma-related symptoms in preschool children. These associations seemed, at least partly, to be explained by infectious, but not by atopic, mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A M M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sonnenschein-van der Voort
authors.forename: V W V
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.forename: R J P
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: van der Valk
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Willemsen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: de Jongste
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duijts
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012107:Research Design; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D012306:Risk; D013997:Time Factors