Birth weight and non-insulin dependent diabetes: thrifty genotype, thrifty phenotype, or surviving small baby genotype

McCance DR, Pettitt DJ

1994

Gila River Indian Community, Arizona, USA

This study examines the possibility that withholding cow milk protein from young infants at high risk of allergy would reduce their incidence of asthma. This study is a seven year follow up of children studied from birth. The subjects were selected so as to have a high risk of wheezing illness: they lived in an area of South Wales known to have a high prevalence of chest disease and they all had a parent or sibling with a history of atopic disease. In the group in which cow milk protein was withheld soya milk was provided. Mothers were asked to avoid giving the baby any food containing cow milk protein for four months and were advised to restrict their own daily milk intake to half a pint (284ml). The influence of breastfeeding was analysed by lumping 'ever breastfed' in one group and 'never breastfed' in the other. The risk of wheezing during the first two years of life was significantly reduced by breastfeeding during the first two years of life in children with and without evidence of a

In so far as there is no evidence that breastfeeding protects against allergic diseases, this gives more importance to studies suggesting that early multiple vaccinations and in particular whooping couch vaccination may represent a risk factor for asthma in childhood. See entry 0124. It is noticeable that the authors of this detailed study looked at a great number of variables such as employment, sex of children, passive smoking, cat dander and mites ....... but did not take into account vaccination status.