Respiratory Infections: Girls Benefit More From Breastfeeding Than Boys

Fascinating new research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center suggests that, as far as respiratory infections are concerned, the protective effects of breast milk are higher in girls than in boys. The study followed 119 babies through their first year of life and also found that formula-fed girls had the highest risk for severe respiratory infections.

It has always been believed that the immune factors in breast milk were responsible for preventing infections, but researchers believe that, if that were the case, both boys and girls would have equal protection. Dr. Fernando Polack, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins says, “In light of these results, we are starting to think that milk does not directly transfer protection against lung infections but instead switches on a universal protective mechanism, already in the baby, that is for some reason easier to turn on in girls than in boys." If this is true, the next step is to figure out the how's-and-why's of that mechanism.