Breastfeeding cuts baby girls' pneumonia risk

Breastfeeding appears to reduce the risk for severe lung infection and associated hospitalisation among infant girls, but not among infant boys. Breastfeeding is a well-known protective factor against severe respiratory tract infections. To determine whether the protective effect of breastfeeding on the severity of acute respiratory infections in full term infants is different for girls and boys, researchers from Argentina assessed how breastfeeding altered the risk for pneumonia and hospitalisation among 323 infants who developed an acute respiratory infection at an average age of 5 months. Overall, 77 percent of the infants were breastfed. These researchers took into account other risk factors for respiratory infection such as tobacco use at home, siblings 10 years old and younger, living in a crowded environment, age younger than 3 months, the presence of other viral infections, and a history of asthma among family members. It was found that viral pneumonia developed in 23 percent of the formula-fed girls versus 5 percent of the breastfed girls. Hospitalisation was necessary more frequently among formula-fed girls (38 percent) compared with breastfed girls (18 percent). Any benefit for boys, on the other hand, was not significant from a statistical standpoint in this study. Any benefit for boys, on the other hand, was not significant from a statistical standpoint in this study. Larger studies in different ethnic groups are required to investigate how breastfeeding impacts girls and boys. The researchers recommended exclusive breastfeeding, as well as active monitoring of non-breastfed girls.

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