Breast-feeding, eczema risk link

LONDON: Breast-fed babies are largely protected against developing eczema as teenagers, research suggests.

Newborns who feed only on breast milk for at least three months have a 54% lower risk of eczema at the age of 16, the study found.

The researchers, from King’s College London, the University of Bristol and Harvard University, tracked 13 000 babies born in 1996 and 1997 until they were 16.

Eczema affects one in five children and one in 10 adults, leaving the skin itchy, dry, cracked, sore and red.

Study leader Dr Carsten Flohr, of King’s College London, said: “The World Health Organisation recommends between four and six months of exclusive breast-feeding to aid prevention of allergy and associated illnesses.”

The study, published in the Jama Pediatrics journal, found 0.3% of breast-fed children developed eczema at the age of 16, compared with 0.7% of those who were not breast-fed.

Britain has one of the lowest rates of breast-feeding in the world. Many women struggle to breast-feed for a variety of reasons, including prior illness, low milk supplies or because their baby simply does not take to it.

While breast-feeding appeared to protect against eczema, the study found no proven link.

The researchers think breast-feeding helps ward off allergies by passing good bacteria from mother to infant very early in life.

Professor Neena Modi, of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “This study adds further weight to the evidence of the health benefits of breast-feeding for babies.

“But it also shows that these should not be exaggerated and mothers should certainly not be demonised if, for whatever reason, they do not breastfeed.”