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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2007;298:1629.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Breastfeeding appears to provide many health benefits to newborn infants, but reducing their risk for developing certain allergies or asthma is not one of them, according to findings by researchers from Canada and Belarus.

In a randomized controlled trial with an initial enrollment of 17 046 mother-infant pairs, the researchers found that 6.5 years after birth, children had the same risk for developing allergies or asthma whether or not they experienced prolonged or exclusive breastfeeding. The findings were published online by the British Medical Journal (Kramer MS et al. BMJ. doi:10.1136 /bmj.39304.464016.AE [published online ahead of print September 11, 2007]).

However, the fact that breastfeeding does not appear to reduce allergy and asthma risk should not deter mothers from nursing their infants, said Michael S. Kramer, MD, lead author and professor of pediatrics, epidemiology, and biostatistics at McGill University, in Montreal. "There are plenty of other good reasons . . . [Full Text of this Article]