[More evidence on why a critical perspective is necessary
in health promotion and why Dennis has no allergies.]

Breast-feeding tied to asthma, allergies
Study casts doubt on long-held belief that practice is beneficial
Suzanne Morrison, TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE

  HAMILTON - Researchers at McMaster University
have turned conventional wisdom on its head with
new evidence   that breast-feeding does not protect
children from allergies and asthma.

  In fact, they found breast-feeding may actually increase
the risk of these disorders.

For years, doctors have told patients that breast-feeding
an infant exclusively for the first six to 12 months is the best way
 to avoid allergies from developing.

  But that advice in medical textbooks may need to be rewritten
because of new research reported today by Dr. Malcolm
  Sears in the British medical journal The Lancet.

  Along with colleagues from New Zealand, Sears found that children
who are breast-fed for more than four weeks are
almost twice as likely to suffer allergies or asthma later on in
childhood than those not breast-fed.

  "Our paper says the protection does not last beyond the early years
and, in later years, it is associated with an increased
  risk," said Sears, a professor of medicine at McMaster.

  But she stressed no one is suggesting women stop
breast-feeding.

  "We are just saying preventing allergy and asthma in the
long term no longer can be regarded as a reason to breast-feed."

  Sears said there are still 101 good reasons to breast-feed,
from optimum nutrition to bonding with an infant, and only one
  reason not to



? an increased risk of allergies and asthma.

  The La Leche League of Canada, part of an international
support network for breast-feeding women, was caught off
  guard by the results.

  "I have a lot more questions than answers from this study," said
spokesperson Kimberley MacKenzie of Barrie. "It's all
  very surprising and we would like to see more research."

  Sears conducted the research with colleagues at McMaster and
the University of Otago in New Zealand.

  More than 1,000 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between
April, 1972, and March, 1973, were enrolled in the  study.

  They were assessed for respiratory function and asthma symptoms
every two to five years, up to age 26. Skin-prick
  tests for allergies were done at 13 and 21 years.

  Half the children studied had been breast-fed.

  The study found that more breast-fed than non-breast-fed children
between the ages of 13 and 21 were allergic to cats,
  dust mites and grass pollen.

  As well, more children who were breast-fed were asthmatic between
the ages of 9 and 26 years.

  Parents' history of hay fever or asthma, socio-economic status,
parental smoking, birth order and the use of sheepskin
  bedding in infancy did not alter the effects of breast-feeding.

  Sears was personally taken aback by the study's results.

  He went into the study expecting to confirm what everyone has
believed up to now ? that breast-feeding protects
  against asthma and allergies.

  He couldn't believe it when results turned out to be exactly the opposite.

Hamilton Spectator