There were two great sessions on breastfeeding and human milk at ASN this year, and our lab participated in both: Dr. Azad gave a presentation entitled "Breastfeeding, Human Milk Composition and the Infant Gut Microbiome: Implications for Lifelong Health" at the Science of Breastfeeding session. Postdoc Dr. Kozeta Miliku gave a presentation entitled "Human milk fatty acids and asthma development in preschool children" at the ISRHML Research in Human Milk and Lactation session. We have come back full of inspiration for new projects and collaborations in our human milk research!

Our latest breastfeeding research was featured this week on ABC news. The study, ""Association of Exposure to Formula in Hospital and Subsequent Infant Feeding Practices With Gut Microbiota and Risk of Overweight in the First Year of Life", was perfromed in collaboration with the SyMBIOTA Team and the CHILD Study, and was published in published in JAMA Pediatrics.

New results from the Azad Lab and the SyMBIOTA Team show that ​breastfeeding may contribute to protection against obesity by modifying the gut microbiota, particularly during early infancy. Among 1087 infants, earlier cessation of breastfeeding and supplementation with formula (more so than complementary foods) were associated with a dose-dependent increase in risk of overweight by age 12 months; this association was partially explained by specific gut microbiota features at 3 to 4 months. Interestingly, subtle but significant microbiota differences were observed after brief exposure to formula limited to the birth hospital stay, although these differences were not associated with overweight.

Read the study in JAMA Pediatrics and the AllerGen NCE Press Release.