Comparison of breast, cow, and soy feedings in the prevention of onset of allergic disease: a 15-year prospective study.

It has been reported that the feeding of cow's milk may enhance the development of atopy in predisposed infants. A prospective study following children from birth through 15 years of age in a private pediatric practice was designed to determine if the food ingested during the first months of life is related to the development of atopy in the offspring of allergic families. Each of 328 children with a positive family history of allergy was assigned to one of three groups according to the feeding preference of the parents: 48 were fed breast milk; 79 soy-based formula; and 201, cow's milk formula. All groups had egg, citrus, tomato, and wheat restrictions as well as inhalant allergen avoidance. These were compared to a control group of 580 children with no family history of allergy. Breast fed infants were found to have approximately one-half the incidence of atopy of cow's milk or soy formula fed infants from atopic families when followed for up to 15 years. Soy feeding produced no advantage over cow's milk in the prophylaxis of allergic disease. There was a three-fold increase in clinically apparent atopic disease in offspring of allergic families when compared to controls but only a two-fold increase if the infant was breast fed. These results support the hypothesis that breast feeding and delay of exposure to known allergens may reduce the frequency of clinical allergic disease in the offspring of allergic families.