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June 2, 2008More girls than boys benefit from breastfeeding, Hopkins Children's research shows |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Challenging the long-standing belief that breast-feeding equally protects all babies against disease, research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center investigators suggests that when it comes to respiratory infections, the protective effects of breast milk are higher in girls than in boys. Following 119 premature babies in Buenos Aires through their first year of life, researchers found that breast-feeding not only offered more protection to girls than boys, but also that formula-fed girls had the highest risk for severe respiratory infections. The findings, reported in the June issue of Pediatrics, cast doubt on the theory that immune system chemicals contained in breast milk and passed directly from mother to newborn are responsible for preventing the infections. If this were the case, researchers say, both boys and girls would likely derive equal protection. In addition, breast-feeding did not appear to affect the number of infections, but rather their severity and the need for hospitalization, meaning that breast milk does not prevent a baby from getting an infection, but helps a baby cope with an infection better. "When resources are limited, it helps to know that your high-risk group is formula-fed girls," Polack says. Despite gender differences in the levels of protection against respiratory illness, researchers say that breast-feeding remains the best nutrition for both full-term and premature infants, regardless of sex, and that breastfeeding's benefits extend to brain development and general health. For the study, investigators tracked responses to a first infection after birth and found that breast-fed girls were the least likely to be hospitalized with an acute respiratory disease.
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