Exploring the relationship between breastfeeding and the incidence of infant illnesses in Ireland: evidence from a nationally representative prospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Ireland has one of the lowest BF rates in the world. This study investigates the association between breastfeeding and infant health in Ireland.

Methods

A cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected from Growing Up in Ireland (GUI): the National Longitudinal Study of Children was conducted. The average morbidity for 2212. infants exclusively breastfed for at least 90 days (EBF90days) was compared to data for 3987 infants in the non-breastfed (Non-BF) group. Data were weighted using entropy balancing to ensure the comparability of groups. Sensitivity analyses considered alternative definitions of the breastfeeding group.

Results

Infants who were EBF90days were significantly less likely to be admitted to hospital (CI: - 0.06 to - 0.03), spent less n

SUBMITTER: Murphy S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9854149 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature