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Are breastfed babies smarter?

Researchers may have an answer

Breastfeeding is a natural thing, but not all mothers get along with it and some choose not to breastfeed.

New research shows that breastfeeding can contribute to the baby's IQ in the future, but it depends on how long the baby is breastfeeding.

And what do other studies on the subject say?

Tags

• nursing

• IQ

Walla!

health

Thursday, 06 May 2021, 06:36 Updated: 06:59

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Controversial issue.

Breastfeeding woman (Photo: ShutterStock)

Breastfeeding is a topic that evokes a lot of emotions and controversy, and it is not really clear why, since the mother is the one who should have the only opinion.

Now, a new study has found that children who breastfed as infants achieved higher scores on neurocognitive tests.

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) analyzed thousands of cognitive tests performed on children aged nine and ten whose mothers reported breastfeeding them, and compared these results to dozens of children who did not breastfeed.

"Our findings suggest that breastfeeding (regardless of its amount) has a positive cognitive effect, even after only a few months," said Daniel Eden Lopez, a doctoral student in the epidemiology program and lead author of a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Health.

"That's what's exciting about these results. I hope it might help improve breastfeeding motivation."

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The researchers examined the test results of more than 9,000 nine- and ten-year-old participants in the Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, and found differences in the cumulative cognitive test scores between breastfed and non-breastfed children.

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"The strongest connection was in children who breastfed for more than 12 months," Lopez said.

"The scores of children who breastfed until they were 7 to 12 months old were slightly lower, and then the scores in those who breastfed until the age of one month or six months decreased further. Overall, all scores were higher compared to children who did not breastfeed at all."

Previous studies have found that breastfeeding does not affect managerial functions that are responsible for the ability to initiate, persevere, delay, regulate, discern and change, or memory.

The findings of the present study yielded similar findings.

Although the researchers did not investigate the cause of the link, they point to previous studies that have found key nutrients in breast milk that contribute to healthier brain development.

Does breastfeeding really help IQ?

(Photo: ShutterStock)

Although there is agreement that breastfeeding has health benefits for both mother and baby, quite a few studies have tried and are trying to test whether there is a link between breastfeeding and future intelligence but there is still no unequivocal answer.

In 2011, for example, the then director of the Department of Mother, Child and Adolescent Health Ministry, Dr. Lisa Rubin, stated at the conference Beersheba Welfare of the Child, breastfed babies from their mother that their credit record for up to 8 points higher than their IQ.

On the other hand, a study published in 2015 on by the University of Goldsmiths College in London and all their data by 11 thousand British children found that "breastfeeding is advantageous limited the development of intelligence and cognition in children from infancy through to adolescence."

Vasan wanted to emphasize that "These findings are important for families especially before birth and immediately after birth are received Breastfeeding decisions. It may encourage breastfeeding goals of a year or more. "And if you ask us, the most important goal that should be encouraged is a happy and healthy mother.

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