Exclusive Breastfeeding from Birth to 6 Months for Reducing Community Acquired Pneumonia in Children Up to 5 Years of Age: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age is the global recommendation of the World Health Organization because of its established benefits. Previous studies show that exclusive breastfeeding can protect infants during infancy but effects of breastfeeding beyond infancy are inconclusive. This study aims to identify if exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age is protective for pneumonia up to 5 years of age. Methods: Systematic literature search was conducted on the following electronic databases: Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SciHub, Herdin, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to identify all relevant studies assessing the effect of exclusive breastfeeding on development of pneumonia in children from birth to 5 years of age. Fixed effects meta-analysis was performed to generate pooled effect estimates (odds ratio) on the probability of developing pneumonia up to 5 years of age in exclusively breastfed compared to non-exclusively breastfed infants. Results: Five studies were included in the analysis. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months has a protective effect against pneumonia in children up to 5 years of age. The probability of developing pneumonia in children until 5 years of age was significantly lower in those who were exclusively breastfed compared to those who were not exclusively breastfed (OR=0.86; 95%CI=0.77-0.95, pvalue=0.003) by 23%. Systematic review showed benefit of exclusive breastfeeding and continued breastfeeding for longer protection against developing pneumonia. Conclusion: Exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months is associated with statistically significant reduction in the incidence of pneumonia up to 5 years of age. Results highlighted the importance of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age as an intervention in reducing pneumonia morbidity up to 5 years of age, thereby supporting the global recommendation of breastfeeding.