Let's Breastfeed

Lasting intellectual benefits of breastfeeding

The long term health benefits of breastfeeding are well documented. We know that 13 weeks of breastfeeding will protect a child for 7 years against gastroenteritis and diarrheal disease , 15 weeks of breastfeeding will provide 7 years of protection from respiratory infections and umpteen other infections and diseases.

‘Researchers have shown that breastfeeding causes children to do better at school. The research conducted by Oxford University and the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Essex University, found that as little as four weeks of breastfeeding for a newborn baby has a significant effect on brain development, which persists until the child is at least 14 years old.’ PhysOrg.com

As breastfeeding is more likely to be practised by women of a higher IQ and higher social status, the researchers wanted to establish whether the relationship between breastfeeding and brain development was a direct result of breastfeeding or whether it was because women who breastfed would have more successful children anyway.

Breastfed and non breastfed children were matched as closely as possible on a number of characteristics, including age, sex, birth weight, family structure and looked at 12000 children born in Bristol in the early 90′s. Their parent’s attitudes to breastfeeding before birth were also recorded.

Test scores showed a significant difference between children who were breastfed matched with children who had not been breastfed. The children were tested 3 areas in reading, writing and mathematics at ages five, seven, 11 and 14 years old in this study.

Co-author Dr. Almudena Sevilla-Sanz, from the Department of Economics and the Centre for Time Use Research at Oxford University, said: “Comparing the test scores of groups of children matched in this way, we are effectively estimating the causal effect of breastfeeding. We find that breastfeeding does have a causal effect on children’s cognitive outcomes. The difference is statistically significant across English, maths and science scores, and persists into secondary school. Indeed, there is some evidence that the effect tends to grow over time.”

This study has not yet been peer reviewed.

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