Increased risk of asthma Asthma risk is increased 300% in children at the age of six years, who are formula fed. Formula fed children are three times more likely to have recurrent wheezing. The evidence is clear and consistent that not breastfeeding puts infants at risk for asthma and atopy.
Increased risk of allergy Infants breast fed for the shortest duration (or never breast fed) have the highest incidence of atopy, eczema, food allergy and respiratory allergy. Eczema, an allergic reaction, is significantly rarer in breast-fed babies. A review of 132 studies on allergy and breastfeeding concluded that breastfeeding appears to help protect children from developing allergies, and that the effect seems to be particularly strong among children whose parents have allergies.
Reduced cognitive development Formula feeding has long-term detrimental effects on a person’s life through its influence on childhood cognitive and educational development, concludes this UK study. Regression analysis was used to determine that breastfeeding was significantly and positively associated with educational levels obtained by age 26 as well as cognitive abilities at age 53 years. (Richards M, Hardy R, Wadsworth ME. Long-tern effects of breast-feeding in a national cohort: educational attainment and midlife cognition function. Publ Health Nutr 5: 631-635, 2002) Exclusively breastfed (without supplements) small for gestational age infants had a significant advantage in cognitive development without compromising growth. Very low-birth weight infants who had never been breastfed were found to have lower test scores in over- all intellectual function, verbal ability, visual-spatial and motor skills than those who had been breastfed.
Increased risk of acute respiratory disease Breastfeeding was one of the key modifiable risk factors for lower respiratory infection in children under five years of age. Formula-fed infants experienced more than three times the severity of respiratory tract illness and required more frequent hospitalization compared to infants who had been breastfed exclusively for four months or more. Formula fed infants had double the rate of respiratory disease.
Increased risk of childhood cancers Formula feeding is known to increase the risk of cancer. This novel study found a significant level of genetic damage in in- fants aged nine to 12 months who were formula fed. The authors speculate that the genetic damage may play a role in the development of cancer in childhood or later life. They concluded that breastfeeding duration of six months or longer may protect against childhood acute leukemia and lymphomas.
Increased altered occlusion Never give artificial nipples of any kind if you want your child to have straight teeth! This is the message from this research on feeding, sucking and dentition. This retrospective study of 1130 preschool children (three to five years of age) looked at the impact of the type of feeding and non-nutritive sucking activity on occlusion in deciduous dentition. Children with non-nutritive sucking activity and who were bottle-fed had more than double the risk of posterior cross-bite, while breastfeeding seems to have a protective effect on development of posterior cross-bite in deciduous dentition.
Increased risk of diabetes Cow’s milk-fed infants had elevated levels of beta-casein antibodies when compared to breast- fed infants. They concluded that breastfeeding for the first four months prevented the production of antibodies and could have a preventive effect on the development of Type 1 diabetes. Early introduction of infant formula, solids and cow’s milk are factors shown to increase the incidence of Type I diabetes later in life. Swedish (517) and Lithuanian (286) children aged 0 to 15 years who were diagnosed with Type I diabetes were compared to non-diabetic controls. The results showed that exclusive breast- feeding for five months and total breastfeeding for longer than seven or nine months are protective against diabetes. Data was collected via questionnaires in a case-control- led study consisting of 868 diabetic Czech children and 1,466 controls. This study too confirms that the risk for type I diabetes decreases with increased duration of breastfeeding. Formula feeding was associated with an increased risk – OR of 1.93. Breastfeeding for 12 months or longer reduced the risk significantly – OR of 0.42.
Increased risk of cardiovascular disease The authors concluded that for children born prematurely, formula feeding increases blood pressure in later life and that this conclusion can be extended to term infants as well. Breastfeeding may have long term benefits for cardiovascular disease by reducing levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipid cholesterol. Studies suggests that early exposure to breast milk may program fat metabolism in later life, resulting in lower blood cholesterol levels and therefore a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Increased risk of chronic diseases Formula feeding dramatically increases risk of developing Celiac disease. This disease may be triggered by an autoimmune response when an infant is exposed to a food containing gluten proteins. A team of researchers looked at the breastfeeding patterns of 627 children with celiac disease and at 1254 healthy children to determine the effect of breastfeeding during the time of introduction of gluten-containing foods on the outcome of the development of celiac disease. An astounding 40 per cent risk reduction was reported for the development of celiac disease in children at two years of age or younger for those who were breastfed when dietary gluten was introduced. The effect was even more pronounced in infants who continued to be breastfed after dietary gluten was introduced, the authors noted. Children with CD were breastfed for a signifiantly shorter period of time. Children being breastfed at the time of gluten reduction had a 52 per cent reduction of risk for developing CD compared with children who were not breastfeeding at the time of introduction. continued breastfeeding limits the actual amounts of gluten received. Breastfeeding protects against intestinal infections. Infections can increase the permea- bility of the infant’s gut and therefore allow the passage of gluten into the lamina propria. Others have suggested that breastmilk IgA may reduce the im- mune response to ingested gluten or immune modulation may oc- cur through specific T-cell suppressive effects. Inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease are other chronic gastrointestinal conditions that are more frequent for those who are formula-fed. A meta-analysis on 17 relevant studies supports the hypothesis that formula feeding is associated with increased risks of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Increased risk of otitis media and ear infections US infants who were exclusively breastfed for four months or more had a 50 per cent reduction of episodes compared to infants who were not breastfed. breastfeeding even for a short period (three months) would significantly reduce the episodes of otitis media during infancy.
Increased risk of obesity 32,200 children aged 39 to 42 months. After elimination of confounding factors, socioeconomic status, birthweight and sex, the prevalence of obesity was significantly higher in the formula-fed children, leading to the conclusion that formula feeding is associated with an increase in childhood obesity risk. Breastfeeding was found to be protective against obesity. The protective effect was greater when the infants were exclusively breastfed.
Increased risk of death by diarrhea In many parts of the world children still die from diarrhea, often due to unclean drinking water. These underdeveloped countries are where the heaviest advertising is pushed by the companies who profit from artificial infant formulas. Compared with exclusive breastfeeding, children who were partially breastfed had a 4.2 times increased risk of death due to diarrheal disease. Formula feeding was associated with a 14.2 times increased risk for death due to diarrheal disease in Brazilian children. (Victora CG, Smith PG, Patrick J, et al. Infant feeding and deaths due to diarrhea: A case-controlled study. Amer J Epidemiol 129: 1032-1041, 1989)
Increased risk of gastrointestinal infections A comparison between infants who received primarily breast- milk during the first 12 months of life and infants who were exclusively formula-fed or who were breastfed for three months or less, found that diarrheal disease was twice as high for the formula-fed infants as for those who were breastfed. Breastfeeding promotion in Belarus significantly reduced the incidence of gastrointestinal infections (by 40 per cent). (Kramer MS, Chalmers B, Hodnett ED, et al. Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT): A randomized trial in the Republic of Belarus. JAMA 285: 413-420, 2001)
Increased risk of death from acute respiratory infections Children who were partially breastfed or formula fed had a risk of acute respiratory infection death 2.4 times greater than exclusively breastfed infants. If children were predominantly breastfed the risk of death due to acute respiratory infection was similar to that of exclusively breastfed children.
Increased risk of postneonatal death Children who were formula fed and never breastfed had a 21 per cent greater risk of dying in the postneonatal period than those who were breastfed. Longer breastfeeding was associated with lower risk. 16 per cent of neonatal deaths can be prevented if all infants are breastfed from day one and 22 per cent can be prevented if breastfeeding is initiated during the first hour.
Increased risk of side effects of environmental contaminants A Dutch study showed that at six years of age, cognitive development is affected by prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. An adverse effect of prenatal exposure on neurological outcome was also demonstrated in the formula-fed group but not in the breastfed group. Despite higher PCB exposures from breast milk, the study found at 18 months, 42 months of age, and at six years of age a beneficial effect of breast- feeding on the quality of movements, in terms of fluency, and in cognitive development tests. The data gives evidence that prenatal exposure to PCBs does have subtle negative effects on neurological and cognitive development of the child up to school age. The study also gives evidence that breastfeeding counteracts the adverse developmental effects of PCBs and dioxins.
Increased risk of nutrient deficiency Infants who were fed a soy-based infant formula brand in Israel during 2003 were hospitalized in intensive care units with severe encephalopathy. Two died of cardiomyopathy. Thiamine level of the formula was shown in analysis to be undetectable. The soy-based formula-fed infants admitted with symptoms indicating thiamine deficiency experienced quick improvement when treated with thiamine. (Fattal-Valevski A, Kesler A, Seal B, Nitzan-Kaluski D, Rotstein M, Mestermen R, Tolendano-Alhadef H, Stolovitch C, Hoffman C. Globus O, Eshel G. Outbreak of Life-Threatening Thiamine Deficiency in Infants in Israel Caused by a Defective Soy-Based Formula. Pediatrics 115: 223-238, 2005)
Increased risk of bacterial infections Use of artificial nipples of any kind may expose babies to alarmingly high levels of dangerous bacteria. Passifier and bottle use is associated with a significant increase in bacterial infections, including streptococcus, antibiotic resistant Klebsiella, which causes pneumonia, and MRSA, a staph superbugs that cause hard-to-treat skin and other infections. reports study coauthor R. Tom Glass, DDS, Ph.D., professor of Forensic Sciences, Pathology, and Dental Medicine at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Increased risk of illness from contaminated formula. Formula fed infants have increased risk of being sickened due to contaminated infant formulas, with bacterial contaminants such as enterobacter and cronobacter and other contaminants such as pesticides , hormones , melamine and botulism.
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