Breast-feeding, breast-milk feeding, and intelligence quotient

A cohort study on full breastfeeding and child neuropsychological development: the role of maternal social, psychological, and nutritional factors

“…full breastfeeding). [7][8][9][10][11][12]15 Moreover, in a number of newer reports, which assessed the potential role of maternal IQ, parenting skills, and mental health, findings were less consistent. 8,18,[35][36][37] Der et al, 8 in a meta-analysis of longitudinal datasets of 5475 children in which breastfeeding was defined in both ways, as a dichotomous variable (yes, no) and as months of duration, concluded that the beneficial association of breastfeeding was confounded by maternal IQ.…”

“…RESULTS Full breastfeeding showed an independent association with child general MSCA scores after adjusting for a range of social, psychological, and nutritional factors (>6mo, coefficient=7.4 [95% confidence interval=2. [8][9][10][11][12].0], p=0.011). Maternal social class, education level, and IQ were also associated with child neuropsychological scores, but did not explain breastfeeding associations.…”

“…2,[4][5][6] Long-term breastfeeding, particularly full breastfeeding, is one of the most studied factors of neurodevelopment in recent years, with several studies reporting beneficial effects on child neuropsychological development. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] However, the difficulty with breastfeeding research is being able to disentangle the underlying casual pathways of this association.…”

Breastfeeding, Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Colostrum, and Infant Mental Development

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The great majority of published articles have important methodologic issues and, as some reviewers note, it is not yet possible to fully understand this relationship. The main limitations of previous studies are poor design and data quality (as a consequence of retrospective data collection), small sample sizes, and insufficient adjustment for critical potential confounders such as maternal IQ and parenting skills.…”

“…Although several observational studies have reported positive associations between breastfeeding and children's cognitive development, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] randomized trials with infant formulas supplemented with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) have generally not found any clear effects. 14, 15 Factors related to parental characteristics such as intelligence quotient (IQ), education, or social class, 1,2,6,8,16 as well as factors associated with the feeding environment, including physical and psychological contact between parents and children, 10, [17][18][19][20] have been postulated to explain associations between child cognition and breastfeeding.…”