Tuesday Dec 2, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study found that babies born by Caesarean section were more likely to develop asthma than those who were delivered naturally.

The study released in the medical journal, Thorax, babies born by c-section were 80 percent more likely to develop asthma.

The finding was based on data from nearly 3,000 children whose respiratory health was monitored for the first year of life.   By the time the children were one year old, 12 percent or 362 children had been diagnosed with asthma.

Caroline Roduit of Kinderspital Zurich Medical Institution and colleagues found that children -about 9 percent - who were born by c-section were 80 percent more likely to develop asthma than those who were born vaginally.

The researchers explained that one reason for the increased risk is probably because babies born by C-section are not exposed to their mother's bacteria in the vagina, which would otherwise help prime the immune system.

A previous study released in July by Norwegian researchers showed babies born by c-section increased asthma risk moderately, but other studies failed to see any difference between the natural birth and c-section on children's health including asthma, Reuters reported.