30 years Down the Road: Another Reason to Breastfeed

For years now mothers have been encouraged to breastfeed their babies because of the many benefits, with breast milk referred to as the perfect food for baby. Breastfeeding’s short-term benefits have long been clear, including the fact that it strengthens the immune system hence the baby is resistant to disease and infection. Benefits for the mothers are also many with mothers being less likely to develop osteoporosis later in life, are able to lose weight gained during pregnancy more easily and have a lower risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer.

However the long term breastfeeding benefits had never been established. In a recently concluded study published in The Lancet, it has been discovered that breastfeeding has long term benefits for up to 30 years.

The Findings:

BfeedAccording to the study ‘From June 4, 2012, to Feb 28, 2013, of the 5914 neonates enrolled, information about IQ and breastfeeding duration was available for 3493 participants. In the crude and adjusted analyses, the durations of total breastfeeding and predominant breastfeeding (breastfeeding as the main form of nutrition with some other foods) were positively associated with IQ, educational attainment, and income. We identified dose-response associations with breastfeeding duration for IQ and educational attainment. In the confounder-adjusted analysis, participants who were breastfed for 12 months or more had higher IQ scores (difference of 3·76 points, 95% CI 2·20–5·33), more years of education (0·91 years, 0·42–1·40), and higher monthly incomes (341·0 Brazilian reals, 93·8–588·3) than did those who were breastfed for less than 1 month. The results of our mediation analysis suggested that IQ was responsible for 72% of the effect on income.’

This is interpreted as breastfeeding being associated with improved performance in intelligence tests 30 years later, by increasing educational attainment and income in adulthood. Here is yet another reason to breast feed your baby; to give them a better future which will ultimately feed into the nation’s future.

Read the full report here Lancet Report

Below is an audio of a discussion of the findings:

 

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