Here comes one more benefit of breastfeeding and that too concerned with the most commonly found illness among the people worldwide i. e. asthma. A new study has recently highlighted that breastfeeding reduces the risk of gaining asthma in children.

The study was done by Dr. Agnes Sonnenschein-van der Voort from the Generation R Study, Erasmus Medical Center in The Netherlands, and her colleagues, who ran their study by using the questionnaires, with the help of which they gathered data from over 5,000 children. From their study they got to know that babies, who are fed only breast milk up to 6 months after their birth are at a lower risk of developing asthma and all its related symptoms in their early childhood.

The questionnaires included all the details such as how long the child was breastfed, till when was the baby breastfed and what all other milk or solids were introduced to the baby within 12 months of birth. More questionnaires were also filled by the parents when their children were aged 1, 2, 3 and 4 years.

The data gathered showed that children, who had never been breastfed, were at a higher risk of wheezing, shortness of breath and dry cough in their first 4 years as compared to ones, who were breastfed for more than 6 months.