Thanks for this, Esther.
This study has already appeared as a discussion item on national TV here.
The full text of the study is here:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj.39304.464016.AEv1
The study - team led by Kramer - is a well-organised and robust one
as far as I can tell, and it comes from the Belarus-based PROBIT
cohort. What it doesn't do (I don't think), is to distinguish the
effects of *exclusive* bf to 6 mths - the intervention group had more
exclusive breastfeeding to 3 mths and overall the group incidence of
asthma was not lessened compared to the control group, but the
hypothesis has never been that short term exclusive bf (under 6
mths) is protective, has it? Also what was the effect on individual
babies of excl bf to 3 mths, compared to invidual babies bf for a
shorter time or with more formula? As well as comparing groups, I
wonder if the study could compare indviduals within the groups. Maybe
they did - I have not had time to really look closely at the study.
What has annoyed me today is the headline on the Press Association
press release about this
paper - quite erronoeously, it says 'Asthma risk for breastfed
babies'.
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jXaJRpN6AkRCeNrylmOf-wNWZf-Q
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
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