Relationship between breast-feeding duration and acute respiratory infections in infants

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship of breast-feeding duration on the frequency of respiratory tract infections in infants during the first 2 years of life.

METHODS: A retrospective study where the files of infants randomly selected from Shamasan Primary Health Care Center were analyzed for different related factors and frequencies of respiratory infections.

RESULTS: The mean duration of lactation was shorter than in previous national reports (5.1±3.4months). The frequencies of respiratory infections were high in the first 2 years reaching an average of 9.2±4.1 attacks per infant. The lower respiratory tract suffered more frequent attacks than the upper averaging a rate of 5.6±2.6 attacks per infant compared to 3.7±2.2 attacks per infant. The multiple regression models pointed out to highly significant predictors for respiratory infection rates: Lactation duration (p<0.001) for the 2 years rates, child rank (p<0.001) for the first year rates and family income (p<0.001) for the 2nd year rates.

CONCLUSION: The lactation duration has an important relation to the frequency of respiratory infections in infancy. Every effort should be made to encourage and support longer duration of breast-feeding.