It's long been known that breastfeeding is associated with higher IQs in children but a new study has found that every month of breastfeeding makes a difference.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, found that both duration (how long a baby was breastfed) and exclusivity (whether breastmilk was supplemented with formula) affected IQ scores at ages three and seven.
Researchers at Harvard Medical School enrolled 1, 312 pregnant women for the study and then assessed breast-feeding at 6 and 12 months. They used Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test at age 3 years and Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning at age 7 years to compare the children as they grew.
For each additional month a baby was breast-fed, verbal ability was higher at age 3, and verbal and nonverbal I.Q. scores were higher at age 7, the study concluded.
The researchers accounted for factors like the mothers’ intelligence and employment, home environment and child care.
Our results support a causal relationship of breastfeeding duration with receptive language and verbal and nonverbal intelligence later in life.
The study also found a small increase in the test scores of children whose mothers had consumed two or more servings of fish while breastfeeding.
Dr. Mandy Brown Belfort, a neonatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and lead author of the study, says, “One of the theories as to why breast-fed children tend to have better cognitive development is there are nutrients in breast milk that benefit the baby’s developing brain.”
Dr. Belfort went on to stress the importance of breastfeeding support in the workplace for mothers. She noted, “On the individual mom level, it can be a really difficult decision, especially as they go back to work. Now we see how much extra they gain with each additional month they continue to breast-feed by pumping at work.”
For more information on the many benefits of breastfeeding, see 55 Illnesses that breastfeeding helps prevent or minimize.
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