Early breastfeeding patterns during birth hospitalization are associated with decreased rates of childhood asthma, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, held from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 in Orlando, Florida.

Laura Ward, M.D., from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues used the Maternal Infant Data Hub, a regional perinatal data repository of maternal and infant dyads born within a large academic hospital system and linked to childhood data within the regional children‘s hospital, to examine the relationship between breastfeeding patterns during birth hospitalization and the diagnosis of childhood asthma. The analysis included 9,649 children born between 2017 and 2019.

The researchers found that 81% of children received any breast milk and 31% exclusively received breast milk during the birth hospitalization; 5% of children had a diagnosis of asthma. After adjusting for sex, race, and insurance status, infants who received only breast milk had a lower rate of asthma diagnosis versus those who did not receive any breast milk or did not receive breast milk exclusively. Infants whose first feeding was breast milk also had a lower rate of asthma versus those whose first feeding was not breast milk.

“This finding highlights the need for greater emphasis on supporting and promoting exclusive breastfeeding during the early days of life,” Ward said in a statement. “By focusing on these crucial first days, we may impact children’s health and potentially reduce the risk of chronic conditions like asthma.”

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