Breastfeeding Infants along with Solid Foods May Reduce Risk Of Food Allergies

British researchers advise mothers to continue breast feeding their babies after they introduce solid foods in the babies' diet after 17 weeks, this would help in cutting down the risks of food allergies in the infants.

"Mothers should continue to breast-feed beyond introducing solids into the diet so the immune system can benefit from the immunological factors in breast milk that educate the immune system," said lead researcher Kate Grimshaw, a research fellow and allergy specialist at the University of Southampton, reports HealthDay.

"My theory was that if food allergens -- those things that infants actually become allergic to -- aren't there at the same time as the breast milk, the breast milk can't educate the immune system," she said.

This study is published in the Nov. 18 edition of Pediatrics. The researchers conducted a group study in which the diets of 41 children, who were diagnosed with food allergies before they reached the age of 2, were compared with the diets of 82 children who did not suffer from it.

The researchers found that the children who did not experience the allergies were fed solid food after the recommended time period of 17 weeks. The children who suffered from the food allergies were fed hard food before the prescribed period. The children were weaned off breast milk, which got replaced by cow's milk protein and other processed food products.

"Introducing solid food before 17 weeks was associated with an increased risk of children developing food allergies," Grimshaw said.

"It also supports the American Academy of Pediatrics' breastfeeding recommendations," the researchers conclude, "that breastfeeding should continue while solid [foods] are introduced into the diet and that breastfeeding should continue for one year or longer, as mutually desired by mother and infant."

But Grimshaw's theory about breast milk strengthening the child's immune system was questioned by Dr. Vivian Hernandez-Trujillo, director of allergy and immunology at Miami Children's Hospital.

"Unfortunately, we still don't have all the answers when it comes to food allergies," said Hernandez-Trujillo, HealthDay reported. "It appears that breastfeeding may be protective, but we still don't know why."

About four to six percent of all children have a food allergy and a hike of 18 percent was observed in these rates between 1997 and 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) reported.

Hence, mothers should make sure they breast feed their child for the first six months after birth, this would strengthen the child's immunity. The mothers are also recommended to breast feed the child along with feeding the child solid foods, as this is likely to help in reducing the risk of food allergies.