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.
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It is already known that breastfeeding can increase a child’s 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.
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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 year’s 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 ...
Correlation vs. causation alert! Maybe richer parents can afford to breastfeed longer, but the success of the children arises from the wealth of the parents, rather than the duration of breastfeeding. Studies will probably also show that babies born to parents who own yachts are more likely to become rich and influential, but it’s not the yachts that cause this.
Reading studies like this can be hard on young moms who, for whatever reason, were unable to breastfeed their babies. There is already enough to worry about without additional guilt.
Not only did my mom feed me formula, she admits to sometimes leaving me with a bottle propped up with blankets so she could get things done. That didn’t ruin my future academic life, nor did my mother-in-law breastfeeding all her children guarantee their academic success.
As a far as the future health benefits provided by breastfeeding, they aren’t a guarantee either. I’m doing much better than my sister-in-laws, it’s not the diet of only your first year that counts.
I nursed all my babies for the first year because I think it is the best option, but it is not the only option.
Well, my post is raising the possibility of the opposite: that breastfeeding might have little to no actual influence on future child success, except insofar as those who breastfeed might be otherwise likely or able to raise highly successful kids.
Yep-I just get tired of the militant breastfeeding moms, and they use these studies to hit people over the heads with proof.
I agree with your point, and was adding my small sphere of experience to it. My MIL looks down on those who don’t nurse their babies, yet her kids didn’t fare better than I who was raised “wrongly” according to her.
If I am going to use experience as evidence, I may as well go further. My kids were all breastfed yet so far, none of them has had the same level of academic success that I did-and they have my genes. Clearly, there are a huge variety of factors that influence the develop academic abilities.
Am I doing something wrong with my kids that they don’t score very high on standardized tests? Maybe, but it isn’t their diet.
Mom might get a little tired of breastfeeding her 29 year old...
Gynecomastia?
Yes, according to the source.
Breast milk is loaded with cholesterol that is essential for brain development but formula is not. Bogus studies have influenced formula makers to leave out cholesterol and formual fed babies suffer
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