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Breastfeeding and impact on childhood hospital admissions: a nationwide birth cohort in South Korea.

Jeong-Seon LeeYoun Ho ShinSunyeup KimYong-Sung ChoiYoun Ho ShinJimin HwangJung U ShinAi KoyanagiLouis JacobLee SmithHan Eol JeongYunha NohIn-Sun OhSang Youl RheeChanyang MinSeong Ho ChoStephen W TurnerGuillaume FondLaurent BoyerDong In SuhKrishna Prasad AcharyaJu Young ShinSeung-Won LeeDong-Keon Yon
Published in: Nature communications (2023)
Benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and the child are well established, but a comprehensive and robust study to investigate the protective effect of breastfeeding and attenuated time effect stratified by cause of morbidity are lacking. This study is based on the nationwide birth cohort in Korea that includes data on all infants born from 2009 to 2015. Of 1,608,540 children, the median follow-up period was 8.41 years (interquartile range, 6.76-10.06). When compared to children with fully formula feeding, the hospital admission rate was 12% lower in those with partially breastfeeding and 15% lower in those with exclusive breastfeeding. The apparent protective effect of breastfeeding was reduced with increasing age. Our study provides potential evidence of the beneficial association of breastfeeding on subsequent hospital admissions. The protective effect declined over time as the children grew older. Encouraging any breastfeeding for at least the first 6 months among infants is an important public health strategy to improve overall child health.
Keyphrases
  • preterm infants
  • public health
  • young adults
  • low birth weight
  • emergency department
  • healthcare
  • mental health
  • magnetic resonance imaging
  • machine learning
  • physical activity
  • preterm birth
  • drug induced
  • gestational age