The Relationship Between the Prevalence of Respiratory Illness and Dermatitis and Infant Diet in the First Year of Life

Abstract

The progression from dermatitis in infancy to asthma and allergy in childhood has been termed the "atopic march". Upper respiratory infections (URIs) in infancy are also linked to allergy and asthma. Human milk feeding and higher intakes of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may be protective. For the study, URIs and dermatitis in infancy were recorded and compared to human milk and DHA intake for 50 healthy term infants born to women enrolled in a study of DHA supplementation during pregnancy. All had 24-hour dietary recalls at 6 wk, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months, first year medical records, and information about environmental factors related to allergy/asthma. Forty-one of 50 received at least some human milk. DHA intake was estimated from individual milk (determined by chromatography) and formula DHA concentrations. Most infants had one or more episodes of dermatitis (26/50) and URI (39/50). Duration of human-milk feeding in infancy was associated with fewer dermatitis episodes (R = -0.289, p = 0.044). Breast feeding for >16 wks vs. 16 wks vs. <16 wks appeared to result in later onset but not statistically fewer total first year URIs (p= 0.611). With approximately 25% of the expected final sample complete, we find evidence already that longer human milk feeding may offer some protection against the "atopic march".