CHILD breastfeeding findings to inform physician practice

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An article in MD Magazine will help physicians use CHILD Study research on breastfeeding to provide better patient care.

The article highlights the finding, published in the Journal of Pediatrics in November 2017, that direct breastfeeding in the first three months of life appears to provide more protection against childhood asthma than either infant formula or expressed breastmilk. The researchers analyzed data from 2,534 infants who were classified into four feeding categories at three months of age. At three years of age, the children were assessed for asthma.

The researchers found that asthma risk was lowest among infants who received only direct breastmilk; higher among those receiving some expressed breastmilk or breastmilk and formula; and highest among those exclusively formula-fed.

“Direct breastfeeding seems to be most protective against asthma development, but expressed breast milk still provides benefits compared to infant formula,” said lead researcher Dr. Meghan Azad in the press release.

For its coverage of the study, MD Magazine interviewed lead author AllerGen HQP Dr. Annika Klopp and Dr. Azad.

Dr. Azad shared with the magazine her team’s hope that the study will guide “future research on the best ways to store and feed expressed milk, and that it will inform societal policies to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.” MD Magazine provides physicians with “up-to-date specialty and disease-specific resources designed to help them provide better care to patients.”