Asthma and Breastfeeding

A groundbreaking study by the world’s leading researcher in childhood asthma has provided unequivocal evidence that formula feeding and food supplements given in infancy actually cause harm. Dr Meghan Azad who in 1995 identified the causative link between antibiotics and obesity has published the findings of a study involving 2773 mothers with asthma who either breast fed, formula fed, breast-and-formula fed or breast fed with nutritional supplements. It shows that the more breast milk a baby gets the less they wheeze. By extension, totally breastfed infants are provided with the maximum lifelong protection against harmful lung diseases like asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema a parent can give.

The findings show that total breast feeding provided maximum benefit reducing infant wheeze to a mere 10% of children in the first year of life. Formula feeding increased the risk to 30% risk. The interesting thing is that supplementing breast feeding was accompanied by incremental loss in the protective effect, with formula milk being the most harmful supplement.

My hope is that my babies will all be champion breaststrokers by the end of the year.