It has long been said that breast milk is beneficial for children who have skin problems, such as atopic dermatitis or eczema caused by other types of allergies.
Recent studies, such as the one we are going to comment on today, seem to show that this is not the case, since they conclude that breast milk does not protect children from eczema on the skin.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom) and the University of Ulm (Germany) have analyzed data from 51,119 children aged 8 to 12 years residing in 21 countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia in what is considered the second phase of the International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Children, considered as the largest epidemiological research project carried out to date.
To know the data about breast milk and eczema, parents had to answer a questionnaire and the children had some skin tests to analyze eczema, as well as skin tests related to environmental allergens (the typical tests of the allergy, come on).
Results of the study
The results of the study show that there is no evidence of a protective effect of breastfeeding on the risk of eczema on the skin, both in developed and poor countries.
As other recent studies were already beginning to talk about this topic, it seems necessary to review the current information that explains that one of the benefits of breast milk is that it protects babies and children from eczema.
Carsten Flohr, one of the researchers, explained that, evidently, there are no doubts about other benefits of breast milk:
Following these results, guidelines on breastfeeding in relation to eczema should be reviewed in the United Kingdom ... It is widely accepted that breast milk is the most important and appropriate food in early life. Especially in the context of developing countries it is also important to keep in mind that exclusive breastfeeding reduces the risk of gastrointestinal infections compared to mixed or bottle feeding. This study does not change this concept.
Well, in my house ...
Without any statistical value, because I only focus on my two children, this study confirms what happens in my home. Despite having been breastfed for more than two years, my two children suffer from one of the most common skin problems in children, atopic dermatitis.
Given the statement that said: "breast milk protects from eczema" one (I) always thought that, or our children, poor children, did not protect them, or the typical of "imagine how they would be if they do not get to drink breast milk "
Now, after this study, I think he looks, in the end it will be that breast milk neither came nor came in this matter ... Anyway, nothing changes too much, my children continue with their eczema from time to time (less and less of less intensity than other children with atopic dermatitis that I know) and the performance of the parents will be the same whether they have been breastfed or not: treat your skin like a baby's, forever.
