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PubMed · 9744183

Does breastfeeding at six months predict cognitive development?

N R Wigg·S Tong·A J McMichael·P A Baghurst·G Vimpani·R Roberts
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Abstract

There is controversy over whether the method of feeding in infancy affects intellectual development. We investigated the relationship between breastfeeding status at 6 months of age and long-term cognitive development in a cohort of 375 children born in Port Pirie, South Australia, between 1979 and 1982. Cognitive assessments were conducted at ages 2, 4, 7 and 11 to 13 years. After adjustment for sociodemographic, environmental and biomedical factors, a small, statistically non-significant, beneficial effect of breastfeeding on cognitive functioning was observed. Compared with the bottle-fed children, the breast-fed children had a 3.4 (95% CI -0.1 to 6.9), 1.3 (-2.3 to 4.9), 1.2 (-2.0 to 4.4) and 0.8 (-1.9 to 3.5) point advantage on the Bayley Mental Developmental Index at age 2 years, the McCarthy General Cognitive Index at age 4 years and the Wechsler Full-Scale IQ at ages 7 and 11 to 13 years, respectively. Our data suggest that any beneficial effect of breastfeeding on cognitive development is quite small in magnitude.

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Analysis of VarianceBottle FeedingBreast FeedingChild DevelopmentCohort StudiesConfounding Factors, EpidemiologicFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansInfantIntelligenceIntelligence TestsMaleSocioeconomic FactorsSouth AustraliaComparative StudyJournal Article

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N R Wigg, S Tong, A J McMichael, P A Baghurst, G Vimpani, R Roberts. 1998. Does breastfeeding at six months predict cognitive development?. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842x.1998.tb01179.x

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