The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 3 March 1997, pp. 436-443
Copyright ©1997 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

Breast-Feeding Lowers the Frequency and Duration of Acute Respiratory Infection and Diarrhea in Infants under Six Months of Age

Manuscript received 11 March 1996. Initial reviews completed 21 May 1996. Revision accepted 6 November 1996.

Unidad de Investigacion en Nutricion and ^* Unidad de Epidemiologia, Hospital de Pediatria, Centro Medico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico, D.F. 06720 Mexico

It remains unclear whether breast-feeding protects infants against acute respiratory infection (ARI). To determine if breast-feeding protects against ARI as it does against diarrhea, 170 healthy newborns were followed for 6 mo. Feeding mode, incidence and duration of ARI and diarrhea were recorded biweekly. Infants were classified as fully or partially breast-fed, or formula-fed. Incidence and prevalence were computed monthly. The effects of duration of breast-feeding and potential confounders were analyzed by multiple and logistic regression analyses. Incidence and prevalence of ARI were significantly lower in fully breast-fed infants than in formula-fed infants from birth up to 4 mo, as was the mean duration of individual episodes (5.1 ± 3.5 vs. 6.4 ± 3.6 d, respectively). Incidence of ARI was negatively associated with duration of breast-feeding and positively associated with the presence of siblings (P < 0.05). The prevalence of ARI was associated only with the duration of breast-feeding (P < 0.05). Infants that were never breast-fed and that had one or more siblings were more likely to have an episode of ARI than those fully breast-fed for at least 1 mo. Incidence, prevalence, and duration of individual episodes of diarrhea were also lower in breast-fed infants. Incidence (r = 0.17, P < 0.02) and prevalence (r = 0.19, P <0.008) were negatively associated with duration of full breast-feeding. Introduction of solid food was not associated with further episodes of diarrhea. The present results demonstrate protection against ARI as a result of breast-feeding similar to that for diarrhea, i.e., lower incidence and percentage of days ill, and episodes of shorter duration.

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