Karleen Gribble <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> This study has a fatal flaw. They found that 35% of babies were
> exclusively breastfed for 6 mo....these babies were born between 2001
> and 2005. Until the end of 2003 the infant feeding recommendations in
> Australia were for babies to be exclusively breastfed for 4 months only.
> National rates of exclusive breastfeeding even now are no higher than
> 15%. Their numbers are dodgy. No conclusions can be drawn from this
> research.

Has someone already mentioned the recall issue? The breastfeeding data
is based on kindergarten-entrance recall. Its reliability is therefore
heavily suspect. The study admits to this limitation, but not to the
confounding issue, which for me is an even bigger one (as the bias is
all in one direction). The study didn't even attempt the most basic
exclusion of confounders - accounting for socioeconomic status. We know
that higher socioeconomic status is correlated with around double the
rate of diagnosed peanut allergy; and that higher socioeconomic status
is also associated with higher breastfeeding rates. 

SES is perhaps one of the most obvious confounder there is for this kind
of research, and even a medical student designing research for a
hypothetical project would (and should!) be stomped down severely if
they didn't attempt to account for it in some way. For me, ignoring it
calls into question the scientific knowledge and competence of the
people conducting this research. 

And yet, the media will love it, and the meme across the country will be
"Science has proven that breastfeeding causes allergies".

Lara Hopkins 

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