If you have a baby girl, it may be even more important that you breast feed than if you have a baby boy. Recent research investigated by John Hopkins Children’s Center reveals that girls may receive a greater benefit from the protective nature of breast milk than do boys, at least when it comes to one area of health.
The June issue of the journal Pediatrics reports findings that suggest that breast milk provides more protection from respiratory infections for girls than it does for boys. Furthermore, girls who were formula fed had the absolute highest risk for developing respiratory infections in all of the babies that were studied.
The study followed 119 premature babies who were born in Buenos Aires. The formula fed girls were eight times more likely to develop respiratory infections shortly after birth than were the breast-fed girls. They were also more likely to develop the respiratory infections than were boys who were either breast fed or formula fed. The breast milk also appeared to help the babies cope with any infections that did occur, lessening the severity of the infections.
The results of this study challenge the notion that breast milk offers equal protection to both boys and girls. Current theories related to this study suggest that the breast milk may not directly transfer the protection but instead somehow switches on an innate protection for the infant that is somehow easier to do in girls than in boys.
Personally, I find the study results interesting, but I am a little skeptical about the theories of breast milk not transferring protection, since science has already discovered the presence of antibodies and anti-bacterial properties in breast milk. I have seen first hand how I may be racked with a bad cold or the flu and yet my nursing child remains symptom free. On the other side, my eldest son, who was a breast-fed baby developed asthma as a preschooler.
This study could help prevent and treat respiratory infections in both breast-fed and formula-fed infants if it points the way to finding the “switch” that the theory suggests gets turned on through breast-feeding of the infants.
What do you think?
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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