(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There may be lots of good reasons to breastfeed your baby, but protecting him from asthma apparently isn't one of them.

A large study conducted by European investigators reveals breastfeeding has no effect on the development of asthma and allergies in the children at the age of six and a half.

The authors note doctors have speculated breastfeeding might protect kids against asthma and allergies for years, but studies conducted up until now have been observational in nature and not the rigorous clinical trials needed to lay the issue to rest.

This study involved more than 17,000 new mothers who were split into two groups. Women in one group received intensive support for breastfeeding and ended up breastfeeding to a greater extent and for longer periods than women in the other group, who received usual care for breastfeeding.

Researchers assessed nearly 14,000 of the children for asthma and allergies when they reached age six and a half, and increased breastfeeding did not reduce the incidence of either condition.

The authors write their findings make good sense, considering both the incidence of asthma and breastfeeding have both risen over the past few decades, and should lead researchers into new directions as far as preventing asthma and allergies is concerned.

"The fact that most [allergic] outcomes have increased in incidence over the past several decades, simultaneous with the renaissance in breast feeding, strongly suggests that breast feeding does not have a potent protective effect at the population level," they write. "Thus, our results underline the importance of seeking other explanations for the recent epidemic of allergy and asthma and of investigating other potential causative factors to develop and test new preventive interventions."

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, published online Sept. 11, 2007