Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Pediatric Allergology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
GRIAC Research Institute, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Apr;72(4):557-563. doi: 10.1038/s41430-018-0117-y. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Human breast milk is generally regarded as the best nutrition for infants in their first months of life. Whether breastfeeding has a protective effect on food allergy is a point of debate and the subject of this study.
SUBJECTS/METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in 649 children who underwent a double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC) as part of routine care in a tertiary care clinic. Food allergy was defined as having at least one positive DBPCFC to any food. The association between both "any" breastfeeding (yes/no) and its duration in months with food allergy was studied by logistic regression analysis with correction for confounding variables.
The prevalence of food allergy was 58.9% (n = 382). Of all subjects, 75.8% (n = 492) was breastfed and 24.2% (n = 157) bottle-fed. There was no significant association between food allergy and breastfeeding versus bottle-feeding after correction for the confounding effect of increased breastfeeding by atopic parents and a history of asthma in the child (OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 0.85-1.79, p = 0.27). However, in breastfed children, every additional month of breastfeeding lowered the risk for food allergy by ~4% (OR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.93-0.99, p = 0.02). No confounders were identified in this association.
These results show for the first time that in children investigated for possible food allergy, every additional month of breastfeeding is associated with a lower risk of developing clinical food allergy as diagnosed by DBPCFC. However, overall, there was no association between the prevalence of food allergy and breastfeeding versus bottle-feeding in this tertiary care population.
背景/目的：人乳通常被认为是婴儿生命最初几个月的最佳营养来源。母乳喂养是否对食物过敏有保护作用，这是一个有争议的观点，也是本研究的主题。
研究对象/方法：这是一项回顾性研究，共纳入了 649 名在三级保健诊所接受双盲安慰剂对照食物挑战（DBPCFC）的儿童。食物过敏定义为至少有一种食物的 DBPCFC 阳性。通过逻辑回归分析，在校正了混杂因素后，研究了“任何”母乳喂养（是/否）及其持续时间与食物过敏的关系。
食物过敏的患病率为 58.9%（n=382）。在所有研究对象中，75.8%（n=492）接受母乳喂养，24.2%（n=157）接受奶瓶喂养。校正了特应性父母增加母乳喂养和儿童哮喘史的混杂影响后，食物过敏与母乳喂养与奶瓶喂养之间无显著相关性（OR=1.24，95%CI=0.85-1.79，p=0.27）。然而，在母乳喂养的儿童中，每增加一个月的母乳喂养，食物过敏的风险降低约 4%（OR=0.96，95%CI=0.93-0.99，p=0.02）。在这种关联中未发现混杂因素。
这些结果首次表明，在接受可能食物过敏检查的儿童中，每增加一个月的母乳喂养与 DBPCFC 诊断的临床食物过敏风险降低相关。然而，在这个三级保健人群中，总体而言，食物过敏的患病率与母乳喂养与奶瓶喂养之间没有关联。
