Breastfeeding may boost babies' brain power

Conclusion This study had several strengths, including its large sample size and detailed measurements of how long mothers breastfed and breastfed exclusively. However, as the researchers acknowledge, in this type of study there is always a risk that confounders – both measured and unmeasured – can influence the results.  The researchers did take account of various possible confounders, including the home environment and maternal IQ. But there remains the possibility that other health, lifestyle and environmental factors could influence both the parents' decision to breastfeed and the child's future mental ability. The researchers only followed up a subset of the study's original cohort who had complete data available on their breastfeeding status and the child's mental ability test results. Those with this information available tended to be of higher socioeconomic status and less likely to be of minority ethnicity, which means that the results may not be generalisable to all groups. There was also the potential for bias when mothers reported information about breastfeeding. It is possible that in giving their answers, mothers felt they should give a "correct" rather than an accurate response, and estimated a longer duration of breastfeeding than actually took place. The score differences seen in vocabulary and intelligence tests were also very small. It is not known whether these had any meaningful difference in terms of the child's everyday life and academi...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Pregnancy/child Source Type: news