Breastfeeding can prevent hospitalization for pneumonia among children under 1 year old

Objective: to evaluate the relationship between breastfeeding and hospitalization for pneumonia among children under 1 year old. methods: ecological study using secondary data of hospitalizations for pneumonia (outcome) and breastfeeding prevalence data (exposure) among children under 1 year old living in the brazilian state capital cities and the federal district in 2008. a negative binomial model of hospitalization was used to estimate the rate ratio (95% confidence interval),adjusted according to the gini index,and the prevalence rates of smokers in the general population and low birth weight individuals in the population investigated. results: breastfeeding prevalence among children between 9 and 12 months old and exclusive breastfeeding prevalence among children under 6 months old were associated with a lower rate ratio of hospitalization for pneumonia (rr = 0.62; 95%ci 0.51-0.74 and rr = 0.52; 95%ci 0.39-0.69,respectively). conclusion: increased prevalence rates of breastfeeding during the first year of life and exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of life can reduce the number of hospitalizations for pneumonia. copyright © 2011 by sociedade brasileira de pediatria.