title: Exclusive breastfeeding and developmental and behavioral status in early childhood.
abstract: Breastfeeding during infancy may have beneficial effects on various developmental outcomes in childhood. In this study, exclusively breastfed infants were randomly assigned to receive complementary foods from the age of 4 months in addition to breast milk (CF, n = 60), or to exclusively breastfeed to 6 months (EBF, n = 59). At 18 months and again at 30-35 months of age, the children were evaluated with the Parent's Evaluation of Developmental Status questionnaire (PEDS) and the Brigance Screens-II. The parents completed the PEDS questionnaire at both time intervals and the children underwent the Brigance Screens-II at 30-35 months. At 30-35 months, no significant differences were seen in developmental scores from the Brigance screening test (p = 0.82). However, at 30-35 months a smaller percentage of parents in group CF (2%) had concerns about their children's gross motor development compared to those in group EBF (19%; p = 0.01), which remained significant when adjusted for differences in pre-randomization characteristics (p = 0.03). No sustained effect of a longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding was seen on selected measures of developmental and behavioral status at 18 months, although at 30-35 months, a smaller percentage of parents of children introduced to complementary foods at four months of age expressed concerns about their gross motor development.
authors.affiliation: Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali-The National University Hospital of Iceland and Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, Eiriksgata 29, Reykjavik 101, Iceland. ohj@hi.is.
authors.forename: Olof H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Jonsdottir
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Thorsdottir
authors.forename: Geir
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gunnlaugsson
authors.forename: Mary S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Fewtrell
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Hibberd
authors.forename: Ronald E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Kleinman
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding; D002652:Child Behavior; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human; D009048:Motor Skills; D013997:Time Factors; D014886:Weaning