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Background Breastfeeding is a modifiable factor that may influence development of inflammatory bowel diseases. However, literature on this has been inconsistent and not accounted for heterogeneity in populations and exposure. Aim To conduct a meta-analysis to examine the association between breastfeeding in infancy and risk of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods A systematic search of Medline/PubMed and Embase was performed for full text, English-language literature through November 2016. Studies were included if they described breastfeeding in infancy in patients with CD or UC, and healthy controls. Data were pooled using a random effects model for analysis. Results A total of 35 studies were included in the final analysis, comprising 7536 individuals with CD, 7353 with UC and 330 222 controls. Ever being breastfed was associated with a lower risk of CD ( OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.59-0.85) and UC ( OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.67-0.91). While this inverse association was observed in all ethnicity groups, the magnitude of protection was significantly greater among Asians ( OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.20-0.48) compared to Caucasians ( OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.66-0.93; P = .0001) in CD. Breastfeeding duration showed a dose-dependent association, with strongest decrease in risk when breastfed for at least 12 months for CD ( OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.08-0.50) and UC ( OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.10-0.43) as compared to 3 or 6 months. Conclusion Breastfeeding in infancy protects against the development of CD and ulcerative colitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]