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Breast-feeding and child health in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Kathleen Ford  and
Miriam Labbok
Kathleen Ford
Affiliation:
Department of Population Planning and International Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Miriam Labbok
Affiliation:
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Georgetown University Medical School, Washington, DC, USA
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Summary

This paper evaluates the influence of breast-feeding on infectious and allergic diseases in infants and children through an analysis of data from a large national sample of US children. It controls for a large number of maternal and child health, demographic, and socioeconomic variables which have been shown to affect feeding patterns, and it includes several aspects of the feeding pattern in addition to breast-feeding. The results suggest that breast-feeding provides some protection against pneumonia and otitis media in the United States while early introduction of formula may have a separate and negative effect.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , April 1993 , pp. 187 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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