'Asthma risk' for breastfed babies

A large trial involving more than 13,000 women and children found no evidence of a protective effect.

Research has shown that breastfeeding helps to boost a baby's immune system and can help protect against respiratory infections.

Figures released in May showed that fewer than 1% of women in the UK follow Government advice to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months.

The Infant Feeding Survey revealed that 76% of women in 2005 started out breastfeeding - up 7% from 2000.

But most had resorted to formula within weeks and fewer than half were still breastfeeding by the time their baby was six-weeks-old.

Only one in four women were still breastfeeding at six months.

The study was published ahead of print in the British Medical Journal and involved babies born in 1996/7.