Posted on 03/18/2015 2:46:15 AM PDT by 9thLife
Breastfed babies are more likely to turn into well-educated and higher-earning adults, according to a major long-term study.
...
It is already known that breastfeeding can increase a childs IQ by a small amount. The question that Dr Bernardo Lessa Horta from the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil wanted to answer was whether this translated into greater intelligence and better prospects as an adult.
Our study provides the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding not only increases intelligence until at least the age of 30 years but also has an impact both at an individual and societal level by improving educational attainment and earning ability, he said.
...
They found that all the breastfed babies had greater intelligence, as measured by a standard IQ test, had spent more years in education and had higher earnings. But the longer they had been breastfed, the greater the benefits. Children who had been breastfed for 12 months had an IQ that was four points higher than those breastfed for less than a month, had nearly a years more schooling and earned around £70 a month more about a third more than the average income level.
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is recommended by the World Health Organisation. Horta said babies who had been breastfed for six months got most of the benefits enjoyed by those who were fed for longer. Mothers should breastfeed for as long as possible, he said, but he recognised that extended breastfeeding is not always easy for women. Less than a quarter of new mothers in the UK are still exclusively breastfeeding by the time the baby is six weeks old.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I have no clue why breastfeeding would make a baby smarter. All I know is that as adults boobs seem to make a lot of men act like idiots...: )
For later
LOL!
I’ll have to tell my wife about the study. We had preemie twins in the hospital for quite awhile, and they wouldn’t breastfeed for awhile. She had the pump thing going and bringing milk to the hospital. And once we filled up our freezer, borrowed room in the neighbors!
Once they were home and finally taking to the breast it was usually alternating, but often one on each at a time! (She’s glad we didn’t have triplets!)
I recall her telling the doc that she hardly got any sleep as once she was done with one, she would doze off, and then the other one would awaken.
“You know all those packets of frozen milk you have? When the one wakes up you feed her. And get your husband up to heat up the frozen milk and he wakes the other one and feeds her.”
Obviously a good idea, but....
They usually breastfeed in 3rd world countries. Who is that working out for them?
“I have no clue why breastfeeding would make a baby smarter.”
Thinking about what my wife went through to get them to finally breastfeed - it may have nothing to do with the actual milk. But the devotion and love by the mother, willing to try and do everything for her baby. That obviously doesn’t end at breastfeeding.
I’m sure many women would have just gone with regular milk and not put up with all of the stuff my wife did. I’m pretty sure that cow’s milk has also been proven to not have all the right “ingredients” - which would make sense.
And I’m not a big one on eating hormone/chemical free foods, but I imagine that stuff is present in cow’s milk and may have some adverse effects.
It’s probably making their children healthier and more intelligent than they would otherwise be, especially considering the sanitation issues with other sources of infant nutrition.
Brazil, where this study was done, is a third world country. If the studied population came from the same socioeconomic class, there might actually be some biological causation going on. On the other hand, extended breastfeeding could be an indicator of other factors - such as a stay-at-home mother who is willing to make a lot of effort for the child - that correlate with greater educational success.
breakfast of champions?
Pigs! Hillary has breasts, too.
You don’t you fall all over yourselves when a post of her picture is up!
All breasts are created equally, they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights such as ..
Uh, what was I thinking, never mind.
Is it too late for me to start now?
Exactly, if this study were true, then Africa would be full of geniuses ...
It is way too early to be LMAO over your comments!
Breastfed babies (from a healthy, well-nourished mother) get a basically ideal mix of nutrients for their development. They also get a healthier gut flora which on its own makes them healthier, more resistant to disease, lessens inflammation, and even improves their hormonal balance - again, with effects lasting potentially decades. Children exposed to certain bacteria in infancy have half the cavity rate when they are 9. Other bacteria produce chemicals that affect mood, testosterone production, growth hormone production, and on and on.
There are a lot of ways breastfeeding could have an effect on intelligence.
You got that right! My daughter nurses our grandson (18 months) and he is quite the smart little fella!
I cudda been a contender, but for that formula.
Thread wrecker!
lol
ah yes. the breakfast of russian champions
definitely violating a few laws.
most notably... gravity (not that i mind)
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