ABSTRACT
Iron status of 30 infants who had been breast fed until their first birthday and who had never received cow milk, medicinal iron, or iron-enriched formula and cereals was investigated; 30% were anemic at 12 months of age. The duration of exclusive breast-feeding was significantly longer among nonanemic infants (6.5 vs 5.5 months). None of the infants who were exclusively breast fed for 7 months or more and 43% of those who were breast fed for a shorter time were anemic. Infants who were exclusively breast fed for a prolonged period had a good iron status at 12 and 24 months.
Subject(s)
Breast Feeding , Iron/blood , Aging/blood , Anemia/blood , Anemia/epidemiology , Blood Cell Count , Breast Feeding/statistics & numerical data , Hemoglobins/analysis , Humans , Infant , Italy/epidemiology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
A case-control study was conducted to study the association between breast-feeding and inguinal hernia. The case group was significantly less often breast fed than control subjects (odds ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.29 to 0.83) and exclusive breast-feeding was associated with a significant dose-response risk reduction. The association was not confounded by birth weight, maternal education, type of birth, number of other children in the family, or gender. Breast-feeding may represent a protective factor against inguinal hernia.
Subject(s)
Breast Feeding , Hernia, Inguinal , Case-Control Studies , Female , Hernia, Inguinal/epidemiology , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Infant Welfare , Infant, Newborn , Italy/epidemiologyABSTRACT
A case-control study showed that, compared with infants who had never been fed human milk, breast-fed infants had a relative risk of intussusception of 6.0 (95% confidence interval, 1.8 to 20.4) when breast-feeding at admission was exclusive and of 2.3 (95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 6.6) when it was partial. Exclusive breast-feeding may be a risk factor for intussusception in infancy.
Subject(s)
Bottle Feeding , Breast Feeding , Cecal Diseases/epidemiology , Ileal Diseases/epidemiology , Intussusception/epidemiology , Case-Control Studies , Female , Humans , Infant , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
A case-control study was conducted to study the association between breast-feeding and urinary tract infection. Case patients were 128 infants aged birth to 6 months with urinary tract infection. Control infants were 128 infants admitted to the same ward with an acute illness. The results support the hypothesis that breast-feeding protects infants against urinary tract infection.