title: Breastfeeding and trajectories of children's cognitive development.
abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the association of breastfeeding practices with the growth trajectories of children's cognitive development. We used data from the Child Development Supplement (CDS) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) with variables on presence and duration of breastfeeding and standardized test scores obtained during three different panel waves (N = 2681). After adjusting for covariates we found that breastfed children had higher test scores but that breastfed and non-breastfed children had similar growth trajectories in test scores over time. The results indicate that breastfeeding has an important association with test scores, and that subsequent schooling and other experiences during adolescence do not eliminate the breastfeeding gap that appears in very early childhood.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, USA.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Kristen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Witko
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D015233:Models, Statistical