The Relationship between the Type of Milk Consumed and the Risk of Kidney Stones in Children Under Two Years of Age

Abstract

Background: Kidney stones are one of several serious health problems in childhood that cause nutritional and growth disorders, and may finally lead to chronic kidney failure in this group.

Methods: In this analytical study conducted through a case-control design, 30 children under the age of two with kidney stones, and 125 children of the same age and sex without stones were studied. Patient information including personal profile and the results of some necessary tests were extracted from patient records and listed in a checklist. The data was analyzed using SPSS (Version 17.0). Statistical significance was considered when p-value was <0.05.

Results: In terms of duration of breastfeeding, a significant difference was observed between the patients with stones and patients without stones; the duration of breastfeeding was longer in the control group (p=0.003). In addition, the duration of feeding with formula milk and cow milk was longer in the case group (p=0.038 and p=0.012, respectively).

Conclusion: Breastfeeding can serve as a nutritional factor that plays a preventive and protective role against the formation of kidney stones in infants.