REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS There is no evidence to support feeding with a hydrolysed formula for the prevention of allergy in preference to exclusive breast feeding .
In high risk infants who are unable to be completely breast fed , there is evidence that prolonged feeding with a hydrolysed compared to a cow 's milk formula reduces infant and childhood allergy and infant CMA .
BACKGROUND Allergies and food reactions are common and may be associated with foods including adapted cow 's milk formulas .
Formulas containing hydrolysed proteins have been used to treat infants with allergy or food intolerance , and have been advocated for prevention of allergy and food intolerance in infants .
OBJECTIVES To determine whether use of hydrolysed formulas for infant feeding prevents allergy and food intolerance .
If hydrolysed formulas are effective , to determine what type of hydrolysed formula is most effective including extensively and partially hydrolysed formulas .
To determine which infants benefit including infants at low or high risk of allergy and infants receiving early , short term or prolonged formula feeding .
Effect of environmental factors on the development of allergic disorders in infancy.
A total of 1167 infants were followed for 1 year in a population -based prospect i ve study to assess the effect of environmental factors on the development of  allergic disorders .  Some of these environmental factors are interdependent . Mothers who formula fed their infants  smoked more often ( p less than 0.001 ) and tended to belong to lower social classes ( p less than 0.01 ) . Logistic regression analysis was performed to adjust for these confounding variables . Maternal smoking adversely affected the prevalence of asthma ( p = 0.003 ) defined as three or more separate episodes of wheezing and total allergy ( p = 0.02 ) . Infants in lower socioeconomic groups developed asthma significantly more often ( p = 0.03 ) than infants born in higher socioeconomic groups . There was a nonsignificant trend for infants born in summer to develop asthma more than infants born in winter ( p = 0.08 ) . No effect of these factors was observed on eczema , food intolerance , or on the subgroup of infants with definite allergy ( clinical disorder with positive skin prick test [ SPT ] ) . Exposure to animal d and er did not influence the prevalence of clinical disorder , but positive SPT reaction to cat d and er was more prevalent in infants who were exposed to cats and /or dogs ( p = 0.04 ) . Positive SPT to house dust mite occurred significantly more often in infants who were formula fed ( p = 0.05 ) . The environmental factors had a profound effect on the prevalence of asthma but not on other allergic disorders
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS There is no evidence to support feeding with a hydrolysed formula for the prevention of allergy in preference to exclusive breast feeding .
In high risk infants who are unable to be completely breast fed , there is evidence that prolonged feeding with a hydrolysed compared to a cow 's milk formula reduces infant and childhood allergy and infant CMA .
BACKGROUND Allergies and food reactions are common and may be associated with foods including adapted cow 's milk formulas .
Formulas containing hydrolysed proteins have been used to treat infants with allergy or food intolerance , and have been advocated for prevention of allergy and food intolerance in infants .
OBJECTIVES To determine whether use of hydrolysed formulas for infant feeding prevents allergy and food intolerance .
If hydrolysed formulas are effective , to determine what type of hydrolysed formula is most effective including extensively and partially hydrolysed formulas .
To determine which infants benefit including infants at low or high risk of allergy and infants receiving early , short term or prolonged formula feeding .