Breast-feeding and Infant Health in a Rural US Community

Risk Factors for Infantile Recurrent Otitis Media: Atopy but Not Type of Feeding

“…* Relative risk is given only where significantly > 1.0. The other 13 variables in Table 1 were not significant risk factors for OM or its recurrence. *There were no statistically significant differences between these groups, or between all infants with and those without ROM.…”

Prevalence of bacterial respiratory pathogens in the nasopharynx in breast-fed versus formula-fed infants

“…Breastfeeding meets these criteria, and in several studies (11,22,23,25,29) it has been associated with a decreased frequency or duration of otitis media episodes. In other studies (17,21,24,28), however, this association has not been substantiated. The apparent disagreement in results of studies of the relationship between breast-feeding and otitis media may be due to difficulties inherent in such investigations.…”

Infant feeding and infant health in American Samoa

“…By contrast, many studies have demonstrated a link between bottle-feeding and gastrointestinal illness (Cunningham, 1979;Koopman et al, 1985;Orwell et al, 1984;Paine and Coble, 1982) and there is a sound physiological rationale for this association. The period of maximum risk could be predicted to be during the transition from breast-feeding to bottle feeding, when a turnover in intestinal flora, changes in both frequency and volume of feeding, and the introduction of new pathogens from contaminated bottles would all contribute to illness.…”

“…Due to the rigor necessary for the proper preparation of infant formulas, there is frequently an association between bottlefeeding and gastrointestinal illness (Cunningham, 1979;Paine and Coble, 1982;Koopman et al, 1985), especially in developing nations. Some studies have found a re-lationship between breast-feeding and reduced respiratory illness (Cunningham, 1979;Watkins et al, 19791, but many studies report little or no association (Paine and Coble, 1982). In short, while there are many reasons to suspect a feeding-health connection, the nature of the association, and the health outcomes remain uncertain, and this is especially true in developing contexts.…”