Study shows breast-fed children are smarter

Study shows breast-fed children are smarter

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - A new study provides some of the best evidence to date that breast-feeding can make children smarter, an international team of researchers said on Monday.

Children whose mothers breast-fed them longer and did not mix in baby formula scored higher on intelligence tests, the researchers in Canada and Belarus reported.

About half the 14,000 babies were randomly assigned to a group in which prolonged and exclusive breast-feeding by the mother was encouraged at Belarussian hospitals and clinics. The mothers of the other babies received no special encouragement.

Those in the breast-feeding encouragement group were, on average, breast-fed longer than the others and were less likely to have been given formula in a bottle.

At 3 months, 73 percent of the babies in the breast-feeding encouragement group were breast-fed, compared to 60 percent of the other group. At 6 months, it was 50 percent versus 36 percent.

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN05207821

...to be latte-drinking elitists?

WELL? DO THEY?

:-(

And welcome to DU! Glad to have you here my friend.

We bottle-fed formula to our boy. He's bright, happy, and has no health problems to speak of. I realize we're dealing with averages here, but the way that they push this, you'd think this causes mental retardation.

The main cause of stupidity and behavior problems in American kids? In my opinion, television. If they pushed the "no TV for kids under 2" thing as hard as they pushed breastfeeding, I'd be happy.

8-10 points, which can make a huge difference in the life of a preemie's development.

Of course, there are other reasons to breastfeed, other health issues that are improved, long into adulthood, and for mom and baby. Besides, it'a alot cheaper than formula.

ITA about your second paragraph.

I sent it to my 18 year old daughter who has been breastfeeding her 4 month old baby.
ANd i have to brag here...my kids were breast feed for about a year each and they are smarter than the average bear!!!(and to think i did it because i was lazy!)

it's a good thing my mom couldn't nurse, or I'd be an EVIL GENIUS!

I mean, we don't get milk, but we go through the motions, people!

:rofl:

It's called induced lactation...I won't tell you why I know so much about it.

But there is a story behind it all :)

gifted

graduating one year early

breast or bottle-fed, they're all above average...

I am a freakin' genius :)

i'm her mother, others might not agree with my assessment.

No knuckle-draggers here...the kids are smart because they have smart parents!

I wonder how much smarteerr I'd been ifn I done breatefed?

Cow's milk is the PERFECT food
.
.
.
for baby cows.

When I was nursing my daughter (she'll be eleven this month) I'd read online at the breastfeeding support websites every day just to keep motivated. They were full of studies that showed breast milk was best.

The best study I ever looked at factored for not only educational level of the mother, but also for the social interaction involved in the nursing relationship. It still showed a 5-10 point boost in average reported IQ for kids who were fed breast milk.

Oddly enough, one thing that has changed a lot since then is the presence of Omega Three in formulas. They play a role in brain development, and were not put in baby formulas at that time. Omega Threes are naturally present in breast milk.

I am glad I nursed my kid, but I have to admit that just about every day was a battle to stay motivated. I did it purely because i felt it was best for my kid.



Laura

"material" with which to insult and abuse child caregivers. Thank you MSM, thank you sooooo much.

Breastfeeding is the normal, default method of feeding human infants. It's not a special bonus, it's just what mammals are built to do. It doesn't make babies smarter or healthier, rather feeding human babies something other than human milk is dangerous and detrimental. B