Kids who were breastfed longer have higher IQs, new study shows

NBC News ^ | July 29, 2013 | Barbara Mantel

[don-o]

Young children who were breastfed as infants scored higher on intelligence tests than formula-fed kids, and the longer and more exclusively they were breastfed, the greater the difference, say Harvard University researchers in a study published today in JAMA Pediatrics.

This study adds “to the body of literature of the association between duration of breastfeeding and cognition,” says NBC News diet and health editor Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph. D., CNS. But does breastfeeding make your child smarter? Fernstrom says this study shows an association, not cause and effect.

The researchers analyzed 1,312 expectant mothers enrolled between 1999 and 2002 in Project Viva, a study in eastern Massachusetts examining pregnancy and child health, and the children they delivered.

The researchers found that 7-year-olds whose moms had done any breastfeeding during the child’s first year - exclusively or in combination with formula - gained a little more than a third of a point in verbal IQ for each month of breastfeeding compared to children who were never breastfed. That means if the mom did any mix of breastfeeding for the entire 12 months, the gain would be 4.2 verbal IQ points.

The association between breastfeeding and intelligence was stronger when researchers broke out children whose moms exclusively breastfed during the first six months.

[Venturer]

Because they cannot tell you why?

If there is a factor they should know it .

It’s BS.