The impact of breastfeeding on the incidence of allergic diseases in infants

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biological and Medical Sciences Candidate: Eliška Hauerlandová Supervisor: PharmDr. Petr Jílek, CSc. Title of diploma thesis: The impact of breastfeeding on the incidence of allergic diseases in infants Backround: In recent years there has been a rise in the number of allergy sufferers, especially in the pediatric population. The aim of the study was to verify whether breastfeeding has an effect on the prevalence of allergic diseases in children. Methods: The chosen method was a survey in the form of questionnaires that were sent out to several dozen elementary schools in the Czech Republic in 2003, 2005 and 2011. They were designed for parents of children of seventh and eighth grade. Returned completed questionnaires were subsequently categorized and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Another method was to map and summarize the literature regarding chosen topic. Results: Research on average was attended by 29% of allergic children and 43% of non- allergic children. Others were not included into either group. There were 19.7% of non- breastfed allergic patients of total number of respondents, and 20.3% breastfed allergic patients. The difference was very small - 0.6%. There were 42.7% of non-breastfed non- allergic..