Aim: To study epidemiological and clinical characteristics of asthmatic children, to find possible etiological risk factors, and the associated links to childhood asthma.

Methods: A matched case-control study was conducted at Al-Najaf governorate for a six-months period. The study samples were 300 children, 1-5 years old, attending the pediatric outpatient clinic at Al-Zahra Pediatric and Maternity Teaching Hospital.The data were collected through interviewing mothers of one hundred fifty asthmatic patients (case group), and one hundred fifty non-asthmatic children (control group). Data were included and analyzed, using different statistical tests by SPSS (version 20).

Results: A multivariate analysis for all significant risk factors, using a binary logistic regression adjusted for different confounders, showed that recurrent upper respiratory tract infections in the first year of life (OR (95% CI)=6.86 (2.89-16.29)), and intake of medication tablets during pregnancy (OR(95% CI)= 3.22(1.29-8.04)), are independent risk factors for asthma; whereas, an exclusive breastfeeding is a protective factor for asthma (OR(95% CI)=0.37 (0.16-0.83).

Conclusions: Any medication intake during pregnancy and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections during the first year of life, increased the risk of childhood asthma, while an exclusive breastfeeding (≥6 months) appeared to be a protective factor for asthma.

Keywords: Asthma, breastfeeding, preschool children, protective factor, risk factors