LLLI Center for Breastfeeding Information

Journal Abstract of the Month for April 2003

"Breastfeeding and the risk of hospitalization for respiratory disease in infancy." By Virginia R. Galton Bachrach, Eleanor Schwarz and Lela Rose Bachrach. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2003-3;157(3):237-43

In a meta-analysis of 33 studies, the authors found a protective association between breastfeeding and respiratory disease requiring hospitalization. No breastfeeding was compared to four or more months of exclusive breastfeeding, and adjustments were made for smoking or socioeconomic status.

In a healthy population in developed countries there was more than a tripling in severe respiratory illnesses which resulted in hospitalization in infants who were not breastfed. Exclusive breastfeeding for four or more months appears to diminish the risk of respiratory hospitalizations to one third or less the risk for formula-fed infants, even in countries with high standards of living. Severe respiratory illness is a known risk factor for asthma. Because respiratory illness is the leading cause of hospitalization in young children (average cost for each hospitalization $3500), with more than 250,000 admissions in 1996, there are large financial implications to this report.

Unlike vaccines which target individual pathogens, breastfeeding provides simultaneous protection against a broad spectrum of organisms.

This article will be categorized in the following subjects:

Respiratory Problems, Exclusive Breastfeeding, Epidemiology, Advantages, HMOs/Insurance, Cost, Human Milk/Immune Factors.