Evaluation of the relationship between breastfeeding duration and the prevalence of giardiasis and asthma in kindergarten, Tehran

Background and Objective: Breastfeeding protects infants against infections and has lifelong benefits for both mothers and infants. The prevalence of asthma among children has increased in different populations and it is estimated 3.9% to 13.14% of Iranian children are involved. Giardia Lamblia is a flagellated protozoan that infects the duodenum and small intestine causes a variety of clinical presentations to range from asymptomatic colonization to acute or chronic diarrhoea. Prolonged diarrhoea leads to malabsorption and malnutrition in children. We aimed to determine the association between breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding duration with the prevalence of infection by Giardia Lamblia and asthma in children. Materials and Methods: This case-control study included 300 children aged 1-5 years in the kindergartens of Tehran from 2013 to 2014. Case group included 100 asthmatic children and 100 children with Giardiasis infection. 100 healthy children selected as controls. The three groups were breastfed in infancy. Asthma was diagnosed based on medical and family histories, a physical exam, and test results. Giardia was diagnosed based on stool specimens collected on separate days in appropriate recipients containing 10% formalin for preservation. Data were collected via detailed questionnaires by an interview with the mothers. Demographic characteristics consisted of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), ages as well as parents economic status, grade of education; interbirth interval, birth order, and family history of allergy or asthma. We evaluated exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration up to six and 24 months respectively. The relationship between duration of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding with the prevalence of giardiasis and asthma were evaluated. For data analyses, chi-square, Fisher s exact test, and independent T-test were used through SPSS 17.0 (SPSS Inc, Illinois, and the USA). Statistical significance was considered at P value less than 0.05. Findings: Frequency distribution of breastfeeding duration in controls was significantly longer than the two case groups (P=0.031). A higher percentile of asthmatic children had shorter breastfeeding duration, with no significant difference (p> 0.05). The giardiasis case group had significantly shorter breastfeeding duration than controls (P=0.001), as well as the duration of exclusive breastfeeding was significantly shorter in Giardiasis case group than the control group (P=0.030).Conclusion: Totally, the prevalence of asthma and giardiasis was related to the duration of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding in children, with a significant association between decreasing breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding duration and increasing giardiasis infection in children (P=0.001). Accordingly, the society and mothers should be aware and encourage about preserving longer duration of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding that result in the promotion of breastfeeding lifelong benefits.

کلیدواژه ها:

Breastfeeding ، Prevalence of Asthma ، the prevalence of Giardiasis