According to a new study that suggests support for new moms could boost the brainpower of the next generation, babies who are breastfed are slightly more intelligent than those fed on formula, and as babies, they are also less likely to get infections and, later in life, will have lower risk of obesity and diabetes.
According to a new study that suggests support for new moms could boost the brainpower of the next generation, babies who are breastfed are slightly more intelligent than those fed on formula, and as babies, they are also less likely to get infections and, later in life, will have lower risk of obesity and diabetes.The study of more than 1,300 moms and their babies, who were breastfed for periods ranging from less than a month to more than a year, found that each month of breastfeeding bolstered a 0.3-point increase in intelligence by age 3 and 0.5-point increase by age 7.
The differences held up even when the researchers controlled for parental intelligence, income, employment and education, and the benefit was biggest when babies were breastfed exclusively for the first six months — a target endorsed by experts but often untenable for working moms.
“We should do whatever we can do to help women carry out their decision to breastfeed,” said study author Dr. Mandy Belfort, a neonatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and lead author of the study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
While three out of four new moms start out breastfeeding, less than half continue for six months or more, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Just 15 percent breastfeed exclusively for six months — the benchmark set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“I can understand as well as anyone the challenges of continuing to breastfeed once a mom goes back to work,” said Dr. Belfort, who is a mother of three.
“I think our findings definitely support an investment in helping moms breastfeed their babies,” she added.
The study is not the first to link breastfeeding to later intelligence because a 2010 study published in the journal Pediatrics found that children who were breastfed for six months or more outscored their formula-fed classmates in tests of reading, writing and math at age 10, but how breastfeeding confers its brainy benefits remains unclear.
“I don’t think anyone knows the answer to that question,” said Dr. Belfort, speculating that breast milk may contain some unidentified nutrient that benefits the developing brain.
“There may also be something about the bonding between mother and infant during those many, many, many hours that may play a role,” the doctor added.
The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, has long been suspected to confer some of breast milk’s benefits, leading companies like Mead Johnson to supplement their formulas with the fatty acids.
However, the scientific evidence for doing so is mixed, with some studies suggesting it has positive effects on brain development and others failing to confirm the benefits.
Similarly, studies comparing the later intelligence of preterm babies fed formula or donor breast milk have generated conflicting results.
According to a 2007 Cochrane Database Systemic Review, there was no evidence that preterm infants fed donor milk had long-term neurodevelopmental advantages over those fed formula.
The review authors suggested more properly designed trials are needed.
Meanwhile, a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet, on 3,500 babies in Brazil, backs this.
Started in 1982, the study found that, 30 years later, those who had been breastfed for a year or more had IQs that were 3.76 points higher, more education and better-paying jobs than those who had a month or less of breastfeeding.
Mothers too benefit from breastfeeding, such as having less post-partum bleeding, and a woman who has breastfed for more than a year is a third less likely to get ovarian cancer compared with a woman who has never breastfed.
Further, Associate Professor Mahesh Choolani from the National University Hospital agreed that mother’s milk is the best, but he added that it might not be a good option for women who have had breast cancer or implants.
So how long should babies be breastfed? The doctors said the “minimum ideal” is six months, though natural weaning usually occurs between the ages of two and four years.
Source: ABC News
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