Can Breastfeeding Really Improve Your Child’s IQ?
Martha and I have always been big proponents of breastfeeding and it was especially important to us that all of our children were breastfed. Even our adopted daughter was fed with breastmilk from a circle of “milk moms”. There are so many benefits from breastfeeding and this recent study is just another example of why it is beneficial to breastfeed your children if you are able. A recent study from JAMA Pediatrics shows that children who were breastfed exhibit an increase in memory at age 3 and a higher IQ at age of 7.
The study in the September 2013 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA Pediatrics) revealed what other studies and many moms have long suspected. The researchers from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital (where Dr. Bill trained) studied over 1300 children over a 7 year period and found the longer a baby was exclusively breastfed and the longer into toddlerhood, the higher their I.Q. tended to be.
The authors speculate that one of the reasons for the longer breastfeeding/smarter child correlation may be that breastfed babies receive more brain-building nutrients, such as DHA, from their mother’s milk. The cognitive benefits tended to be greater in children whose mothers ate at least 2 servings of fish per week.
Science is finally proving what mothers and pediatricians have long suspected: Breastfeeding is good for your child’s brain!
You can find the full journal article here.
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