Breastfeeding[/B] improves a child's cognitive-mental performance, a new British scientific study confirms. Babies who were breastfed for at least six months perform slightly better on successive tests up to the age of 14, compared to children whose mothers never breastfed them as babies.
The researchers, led by Rene Pereira-Elias of the University of Oxford, who published the paper in the journal PLoS One, studied data on 7,855 infants followed until they were 14. 23% had been breastfed for six months or more, while 34% had not been breastfed at all. The children took various tests (verbal, spatial, etc.) at ages 5, 7, 11 and 14 years.
It was found that in general children who had been breastfed as babies for a longer period of time performed better, even when other factors such as the mother's educational level or the socio-economic level of the family were taken into account.
Pereira-Elias said that "in some countries, mothers with more advantaged social backgrounds and those who themselves have higher scores on cognitive tests are more likely to breastfeed their babies for longer. It has been argued that the relationship between breastfeeding and cognitive development is due to these differences. However, our new study, which took into account socio-economic circumstances and maternal cognitive ability, shows that breastfeeding duration is indeed associated with higher cognitive performance in children, even up to the age of 14."
Breastfeeding milk contains polyunsaturated fatty acids and micronutrients, which help with brain development. Furthermore, according to researchers, breast milk contains microRNA, parts of the genetic code responsible for programming the brain to develop and function properly.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for about six months and then, for another year, breastfeeding alongside other foods. The longer the duration of breastfeeding, the lower the risk of infections and other diseases for the child. However, not all women can breastfeed.
"It is important to remember that the potential gains in cognitive ability of children who have breastfed for several months are equivalent to only 2 to 3 points on the intelligence index, where the average is 100,"[/I] said Pereira-Elias. "Of course, if an entire population on average increases the intelligence index by 2-3 points, we will see significant differences," he added.
Source: Cyprus Times
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