Does breastfeeding at six months predict cognitive development?
There is controversy over whether the method of feeding in infancy affects intellectual development. We investigated the relationship between breastfeeding status at 6 months of age and long-term cognitive development in a cohort of 375 children born in Port Pirie, South Australia, between 1979 and 1982. Cognitive assessments were conducted at ages 2, 4, 7 and 11 to 13 years. After adjustment for sociodemographic, environmental and biomedical factors, a small, statistically non-significant, beneficial effect of breastfeeding on cognitive functioning was observed. Compared with the bottle-fed children, the breast-fed children had a 3.4 (95% CI -0.1 to 6.9), 1.3 (-2.3 to 4.9), 1.2 (-2.0 to 4.4) and 0.8 (-1.9 to 3.5) point advantage on the Bayley Mental Developmental Index at age 2 years, the McCarthy General Cognitive Index at age 4 years and the Wechsler Full-Scale IQ at ages 7 and 11 to 13 years, respectively. Our data suggest that any beneficial effect of breastfeeding on cognitive development is quite small in magnitude.
Wigg
N R
NR
Child and Youth Health, Adelaide, South Australia.
Tong
S
S
McMichael
A J
AJ
Baghurst
P A
PA
Vimpani
G
G
Roberts
R
R
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002657:Child Development; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013021:South Australia