Breastfeeding DOES cut the risk of asthma

BREASTFEEDING does protect children from asthma, a major review has found.

Researchers combined data from 117 scientific papers over 30 years, involving some 250,000 babies to sweep away conflicting claims about the link.

They found that regular breastfeeding cuts the risk of asthma by 37 per cent in infants under three. Children aged seven and over who had been breastfed were 17 per cent less likely to have the condition.

In all, 62 studies said breastfeeding was helpful, 43 that it had no effect, four that it caused asthma, and eight found that other factors were more important.

The report from Britain’s University Campus Suffolk, which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, says its findings ‘strongly suggest’ breastfeeding protects against asthma, particularly up to age two.

Babies who do not breastfeed are known to be more at risk of respiratory infections. The report says these could trigger asthma in infants and young children.

One in 11 children now has asthma and 18 died from the condition in 2011-12 in the UK.

The results were welcomed by charity Asthma UK, which until now has told mothers the evidence was ‘not clear’. A spokesman said: ‘This review provides good evidence that children who are breastfed have a lower risk of developing asthma.’