Lower prevalence of a topic dermatitis in breast-fed infants whose allergic mothers restrict dairy products

Abstract

Objective: To study the prevalence of a topic dermatitis in exclusively breast-fed infants of allergic mothers who were placed either on liberal diets or on dairy-product-restricted diets. Material and Method: Infants aged 0 to 4 months old, who were exclusively breast-fed and whose mothers had a history of allergic disease, were the subjects of the present study. The mothers were randomized into two groups; mothers in a control group were on liberal diets, while mothers in an intervened group were on dairy product-restricted diets. Infants of both groups were examined for a topic dermatitis at seven days, one month, and four months of age. Results: There were 32 and 30 infants in the control and intervened groups, respectively. Eight infants in the control group and two infants in the intervened group developed a topic dermatitis by the age of four months. The prevalence of a topic dermatitis in the intervened group was significantly lower than that in the control group (6.67% vs. 25%, p<0.05). Conclusion: Dairy product restriction in allergic mothers results in decreasing prevalence of a topic dermatitis in 4-month-old infants who were exclusively breast-fed.