Revised Guidelines on Early Dietary Intervention for Atopy Prevention
Breast-feeding helps some infants avoid atopy, but limited evidence exists that other nutritional interventions affect the development of atopic disease in children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The new guidelines, appearing in Pediatrics, replace a policy statement issued in 2000. The academy's committee concludes that:
- infants at high risk for atopy (i.e., those having first-degree relatives with atopic disease) show benefit from exclusive breast-feeding for at least 4 months;
- infants exclusively breast-fed for at least 3 months are at lower risk for asthma;
- maternal dietary restrictions (e.g., avoiding peanuts, cow's milk) during pregnancy and breast-feeding aren't supported by evidence;
- any protection against asthma afforded by early exclusive breast-feeding cannot be shown beyond age 6;
- "modest evidence" exists that if high-risk infants are not exclusively breast-fed, they will have a lower risk for atopic dermatitis if given extensively or partially hydrolyzed formula. <>
Pediatrics article (Free)
Physician's First Watch for January 8, 2008
2 comments:
Hi, I breastfed exclusively for 6 months and my son (now 9 months) has allergic rhinitis and asthma.
hi, well done for having exclusively breast fed your baby which is known to reduce the risk for atopy (nose, skin and lungs) - but in families with strong family history for allergies the child may still be atopic - you may have to explore in addition the environmental triggers (furry animals or toys, blankets, clothing - house dust mite, airconditioning or heating filters, curtains, flooring material etc.) Diet also need to be checked eg some are allergic to wheat related baby food, or the food conditioning agents or even milk.
If you had not breast fed, it might have been worse?
Take care. do check out my other blogs for pregnancy related stuff. postnatalconfinement.blogspot.com
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