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null Breastfed babies are less likely to have eczema

A study found a 54% reduction in cases of eczema amongst teenagers whose mothers had received support to breastfeed exclusively

Nov 13, 2017

Babies whose mothers had received support to breastfeed exclusively for a sustained period from birth have a 54% lower risk of eczema at the age of 16, a new study led by researchers from King’s College London, Harvard University, University of Bristol, McGill University and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) shows.

The study, which is published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, examined more than 13,000 Belarussian teenagers enrolled in the PROmotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT) and found a 54% reduction in cases of eczema amongst teenagers whose mothers had received support to breastfeed exclusively.

Eczema causes the skin to become itchy, dry, cracked, sore and red. It affects around one in 5 children and one in 10 adults in the developed world. Learn more