Quigley, MA;
Carson, C;
Sacker, A;
Kelly, Y;
(2016)
Exclusive breastfeeding duration and infant infection.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
, 70
pp. 1420-1427.
10.1038/ejcn.2016.135.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: We estimated the risk of infection associated with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). SUBJECT/METHODS: We analysed the data on 15 809 term, singleton infants from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Infants were grouped according to months of EBF: never, <2, 2-4, 4-6 and 6 (the latter being World Health Organisation (WHO) policy since 2001: 'post-2001 WHO policy'). Among those EBF for 4-6 months, we separated those who started solids, but not formula, before 6 months, and were still breastfeeding at 6 months (that is, WHO policy before 2001: 'pre-2001 WHO policy'), from other patterns. Outcomes were infection in infancy (chest, diarrhoeal and ear). RESULTS: EBF was not associated with the ear infection, but was associated with chest infection and diarrhoea. EBF for <4 months was associated with a significantly increased risk of chest infection (adjusted risk ratios (RR) 1.24-1.28) and diarrhoea (adjusted RRs 1.42-1.66) compared with the pre-2001 WHO policy. There was an excess risk of the chest infection (adjusted RR 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.97-1.46) and diarrhoea (adjusted RR 1.66, 95% CI: 1.11, 2.47) among infants EBF for 4-6 months, but who stopped breastfeeding by 6 months, compared with the pre-2001 WHO policy. There was no significant difference in the risk of chest infection or diarrhoea in those fed according to the pre-2001 versus post-2001 WHO policy. CONCLUSIONS: There is an increased risk of infection in infants EBF for <4 months or EBF for 4-6 months who stop breastfeeding by 6 months. These results support current guidelines of EBF for either 4-6 or 6 months, with continued breastfeeding thereafter.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 27 July 2016; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2016.135.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exclusive breastfeeding duration and infant infection |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/ejcn.2016.135 |
| Publisher version: | http://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2016.135 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1505893 |
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