Study links breastfeeding to intelligence

Research in the Archives of Disease in Childhood has found breastfeeding for less than three months may affect a child's intelligence.

The study looked at the intellectual and motor skills of 345 randomly selected children. The children were assessed twice at 13 months of age, and again at five years.

The children who were breastfed for less than three months were more likely to score below average for mental skills at 13 months and for total intelligence at five years than the children breastfed for six months or more.

Duration of breastfeeding didn't affect the development of motor skills at either age for either group.

Adjusting for other factors

The researchers say the differences persisted even after the age, intelligence, smoking habits during pregnancy and education of the mothers were taken into account.

The authors of the study say they aren't sure exactly what caused the lower scores, but say factors associated with breastfeeding may play a role.

They say the intimacy of breastfeeding may be important in cognitive development. They also think the nutrients in breast milk play a role.

The study was conducted by N.K. Angelsen, T. Vik, G. Jacobsen and L.S. Bakketeig in the Department of Community Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.