Breastfeeding children for six months can ward off common infections during infancy, further evidence suggests.
The findings showed babies brought up exclusively on their mother's milk were significantly more healthy than those given substitute formula feeds.
But the study found the positive effects - fewer and less severe infections - were not felt by children who were only partially breastfed.
Researchers from the University of Crete monitored the health of just under 1,000 infants for a period of 12 months. They recorded any common infections they had at one, three, six, nine and 12 months, which included respiratory and urinary infections, ear infections, stomach upsets, conjunctivitis and thrush.
The infants, drawn from a total of 6,878 births in 2004 in Crete, were routinely vaccinated and had access to a high standard of healthcare.
Researchers found the longer an infant was exclusively breastfed - with no substitute formula feeds - the lower the rate of infection.
Any infections they did pick up were less severe than those experienced by their peers who were either partially breastfed or not breastfed at all.
Factors such as parental age and education, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, ethnicity and number of siblings influenced the frequency of infections, the findings showed.
Meanwhile, researchers concluded that antibodies passed on through the mother's milk, as well as nutritional and immunological factors, accounted for some of the differences observed
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