Abstract
The relationships between breastfeeding practices and the rates of gastrointestinal and lower respiratory illness during the first 2 years of life were examined for a birth cohort of New Zealand infants. During the first 4 months there were significant tendencies for rates of gastrointestinal illness to decrease with increasing duration of breastfeeding. These trends remained significant when the effects of a number of social and familial factors were taken into account. There was no association between duration of breastfeeding and rates of gastrointestinal illness beyond 4 months. Prolonged breastfeeding was associated with significantly lower rates of lower respiratory illness during both the 1st and 2nd years. However when the effects of social and familial factors were taken into account the apparent associations between duration of breastfeeding and rates of lower respiratory illness became nonsignificant. The implications of these findings are discussed. (authors)
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