Study reveals link between breastfeeding and child IQ
Independent. UK
Published: 06 November 2007
Babies who are breastfed stand a better chance of becoming intelligent children if they also inherit a version of a gene that is involved in the growth of the brain, researchers have found.
Two large studies of breastfed children confirm that mother’s milk does indeed raise IQ in later life – if combined with a gene involved in the metabolism of fatty acids.
It was already accepted that breastfeeding increases a child’s IQ significantly, but some critics of earlier research pointed out that in the West this may be because higher social classes tend both to breastfeed their children and spend more money on their education than lower social classes. The latest study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claims to have eliminated these |potentially confounding |social factors.
A study has also shown that breastfed babies have a lower risk of developing heart disease. Scientists told the American Heart Association that breastfeeding is linked with lower weight and higher “good” cholesterol levels in adulthood.
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article3132481.ece
Independent. UK
Published: 06 November 2007
Babies who are breastfed stand a better chance of becoming intelligent children if they also inherit a version of a gene that is involved in the growth of the brain, researchers have found.
Two large studies of breastfed children confirm that mother’s milk does indeed raise IQ in later life – if combined with a gene involved in the metabolism of fatty acids.
It was already accepted that breastfeeding increases a child’s IQ significantly, but some critics of earlier research pointed out that in the West this may be because higher social classes tend both to breastfeed their children and spend more money on their education than lower social classes. The latest study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claims to have eliminated these |potentially confounding |social factors.
A study has also shown that breastfed babies have a lower risk of developing heart disease. Scientists told the American Heart Association that breastfeeding is linked with lower weight and higher “good” cholesterol levels in adulthood.
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article3132481.ece