Breastfeeding Boosts IQ of Newborns

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NaturalNews.com printable article

http://www.naturalnews.com/024474.html

Originally published October 13 2008

 

 

Breastfeeding Boosts IQ of Newborns

by David Gutierrez

 

 

(NaturalNews) Children who are breastfed exclusively for the first

three months of life score higher on IQ tests at the age of six than

other children, according to a study conducted by researchers from

McGill University in Canada and published in the Archives of General

Psychiatry.

 

" Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children's

cognitive development, " lead researcher Michael Kramer said.

 

The researchers examined approximately 14,000 children born in

hospitals in Belarus. Because breastfeeding often takes place more

often among people of more affluent backgrounds, prior studies have

struggled to separate the effects of wealth from that of

breastfeeding specifically. The researchers picked many of the

hospitals in the current study because they run programs designed to

increase breastfeeding among women of all socioeconomic backgrounds.

 

They found that children who were breastfed exclusively for the first

three months of life had IQ scores an average of 5.9 points higher,

when tested at the age of six, than children who had not been

exclusively breastfed. Children in the breastfeeding group were also

rated higher by their teachers in both academic reading and writing

ability.

 

" This research certainly increases the evidence about the impact of

breastfeeding, " said Rosie Dodds of the U.K.'s National Childbirth

Trust. " And I think what we now need is more effort put into

supporting it. "

 

While the British government recommends exclusive breastfeeding for

the first six months, only one in four mothers do so.

 

The researchers noted that they were unable to determine, however,

whether it was some ingredient or ingredients of the breast milk that

led to the improved cognitive development observed, or if the benefit

instead came from the increased closeness between mother and infant

that arises from breastfeeding.

 

" It remains unclear whether the observed cognitive benefits of

breastfeeding are due to some constituents of breast milk or are

related to the physical and social interactions inherent in

breastfeeding, " Kramer said.

 

Sources for this story include: news.bbc.co.uk.

 

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