Because I knew that breastfeeding reduces the risks of babies form developing allergies, my son was breastfed for as long as I could, not much shorter than the World Health Organization's recommendation of 2 years.

There is a school of thought that attributes this allergy-prophylactic properties to the oligosaccharides present in breastmilk. these compounds promotes the growth of certain bacteria in the gut, colonizes the baby's gut and help boost the child's immune system.

A team of researchers are hoping to reproduce that anti-allergy properties of breastmilk in infant formula. The say that infants fed with a specially formulated formula which contains the "prebiotic" oligosaccharides, had more bifidobacteria (good bacteria) in the gut.

They say that "formula feed supplemented with prebiotics can modify the bowel bacteria and so reduce the chance of developing atopic dermatitis among children at high risk of the disorder".

Whether it actually does result to decreased incidence of atopic dermatitis remains to be seen.