If you prefer not to breastfeed, but want to protect your baby against
Leukemia, diabetes, etc, then quick, enroll him in the nearest daycare
center!! The more sick kids there, the better!!
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Tel Aviv, Israel
(Day care in infancy protects against childhood leukaemia) HYPERLINK
"http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/rapidpdf/bmj.38428.521042.8F"http://bmj.
bmjjournals.com/cgi/rapidpdf/bmj.38428.521042.8F
Day care in infancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia:
findings from UK case-control study
Please note, the embargo for this study will be lifted at 11.30 am UK
time
on Friday 22 April 2005, to coincide with a causes of leukemia press
briefing at the Science Media Centre, 21 Albemarle Street, London, W1.
The
study will also be posted onto bmj.com at this time.
Children who attend day care centres on a regular basis in the first few
months of life are less likely to develop leukaemia than children who do
not, finds a study published online by the BMJ today.
These results support the theory that reduced exposure to common
infections in the first year of life increases the risk of developing
acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
The study involved 6305 children (aged 2-14 years) without cancer, 3140
children with cancer (diagnosed 1991-6), of whom 1286 had ALL. Parents
were interviewed about day care and social activity with children
outside the
family during the first year of life.
Increasing levels of social activity outside the home were associated
with
consistent reductions in risk of ALL. However, the greatest reduction in
risk of ALL was seen in children who attended formal day care during the
first three months of life (defined as attendance at a day nursery or
nursery school at least once a week, or at least two half day sessions a
week at a playgroup, mother and toddler group, or at a childminder with
a
minimum of four children attending).
Results were similar for cases diagnosed between 2-14 years and for
cases
diagnosed between 2-5 years.
"Our results provide further support that social activity with other
infants and children during the first few months of life protects
against
subsequent risk of ALL," say the authors.
The most plausible interpretation is that this protection comes from
exposure to common infections. Similar associations have been reported
for
type 1 diabetes and allergies in children.
"Whether early exposure to one or more specific infections, or to a
spectrum of non-specific agents, protects against each of these
disparate
diseases remains to be clarified. Nevertheless, we conclude that some
degree of early exposure to infection seems to be important for child
health."
Contact:
Sonya Corbett, Senior Press Officer, Leukaemia Research Fund, London, UK
Email: [log in to unmask]
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