40 shares According to Ms Stråvik, the way the data was obtained in the new study was more robust than previous investigations — which had relied solely on questionnaires. Each mother in the study gave a detailed account of their eating habits in the 34th week of the pregnancy, one month after the birth and four months after birth. At one year of age, the children were medically examined — and all cases of food allergy, atopic eczema and asthma were identified. The team accounted for compounding factors, such as hereditary predisposition or reverse causation. 'In this study, we were able to actually verify the women's reported intake of milk and milk products through biomarkers in her blood and breast milk,' said Ms Stråvik.