OBJECTIVES: Considering the recent reports about a possible relationship between early exposure to bovine milk and type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), this study aimed to evaluate the initial age of feeding with bovine milk in DM1 subjects, through a case-control study; as well as to correlate the age at introduction of bovine milk on children's diet with the development and the age of onset of DM1. METHODS: The study was based in interviews directed to mothers of the following groups: a) insulin dependent diabetics patients (DM1G), with diagnosis done up to the mean age of 30 years, with an average age at the diagnosis of 9.2±5.4 years; b) Control group: non diabetic students (CG). The sample comprised 124 subjects (47 DM1G and 77 CG), without statistical difference related to sex and chronological age between both groups. RESULTS: The exclusive breast feeding rate time was significantly less for the female sex. There was no significant differences between the groups rate in relation to the male sex. Also, there was no relationship between the age of exposure to bovine milk and the age at the onset of DM1. CONCLUSIONS: DM1 female subjects were exposed earlier to bovine milk than control subjects, suggesting a possible role of the diet in the etiopathogeny of the disease. Precocious withdrawal from breast feeding, and the associated protection factors offered by it, can be considered elements potentially related to triggering of the autoimmune process.
Breast feeding; Type 1 diabetes mellitus; Dairy products; Infant; Case-control studies
