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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2008;299(6):621.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Breastfeeding for at least 4 months may help prevent atopic disease in high-risk infants, but there is little evidence that delaying the introduction of specific foods is necessary. Those are the conclusions of a new clinical report on the effects of early nutritional interventions on the development of such atopic diseases as asthma, food allergy, and atopic dermatitis in infants and children. The report, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, determined the potential roles of maternal dietary restriction, breastfeeding, timing of introduction of complementary foods, and hydrolyzed formulas (Greer FR et al. Pediatrics. 2008;121[1]:183-191).

BREASTFEEDING

The report comes in the face of increasing rates of atopic disease over the past several decades. Among children aged 4 years or younger, the incidence of asthma has increased 160% and the incidence of atopic dermatitis has increased 2- to 3-fold (Eichenfield LF et al. Pediatrics. 2003;111[3]:608-616). Peanut allergy . . . [Full Text of this Article]