Caesarean birth, either with or without labour, elective or emergency, was not associated with an increased risk of food allergy during the first year of life, according to new research.
The study, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, surveyed 2045 infants from the HealthNuts study, with additional birth data from the Victorian Perinatal Data Collection. Of the 30% of the infants born by caesarean, 12.7% had a food allergy compared with 13.2% born vaginally. There was no evidence of effect modification by breastfeeding, older siblings, pet dog ownership or maternal allergy.
Image credit | Shutterstock
