TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of long-term breastfeeding and parental asthma condition on the prevalence and severity of asthma, rhinitis and eczema in schoolchildren from the United Arab Emirates JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P4088 AU - Mohammed Shamssain AU - Saeed Abdulla AU - Aya Lafta Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4088.abstract N2 - There are few studies on the effects of long-term breast feeding and parental asthma condition on the prevalence and severity of asthma, rhinitis and eczema in schoolchildren. We studied 4026 schoolchildren from the UAE. We used the Arabic version of ISAAC questionnaire (the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood). The prevalence rates of ever rhinitis, ever eczema and ever asthma were 31.7%, 12.0% and 9.5%, respectively. Boys had significantly higher prevalence rates of rhinitis and asthma than girls ( 34.8% and 12.2% vs 29.4% and 7.4%, respectively). Girls had higher prevalence of eczema than boys (12.6% vs 11.2%). Children who breastfed for less than one year had significantly higher prevalence rates of asthma and rhinitis compared to those who breastfed more than one year (20.8% vs 15.0% and 20.7% vs 17.0%,respectively. The prevalence of ever asthma in children exposed to passive smoking was significantly higher than non-exposed children. High prevalence of asthma (43.3%) was found in children from both asthmatic parents compared to children from parents without asthma (7.9%). The prevalence of asthma in the present study was lower than the results obtain in 1994. The present study shows that breastfeeding more than 12 months has protective effect against asthma and allergic rhinitis. Therefore parent should be encouraged to breastfeed their children for at least 12 months. The present study confirms an improvement in asthma management in the UAE and doctors follow the international asthma management guidelines. ER -