BMJ  2006;333:929-930 (4 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39020.473322.80

Editorial

Breast feeding and intelligence in children

Mediated by mother's intelligence rather than better nutrition

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Many studies report that children who were breast fed perform better in tests of intellectual competence than those who were not.1-3 This association is seen for full term infants and more strongly for those who are preterm or of low birth weight. The IQ advantage for full term infants is small, roughly three to four points, but it is remarkably consistent across studies. It is unclear, however, whether this difference reflects a direct nutritional advantage or a difference in socioenvironmental factors that are more favourable in women who breast feed.

Women who breast feed are more likely to provide their child with a more enriched and cognitively stimulating environment than those who do not breast feed, which could contribute to their children's better cognitive performance. Several studies have reported a positive relation between mother's IQ and the decision to breast feed.1 A study in this week's BMJ by Der . . . [Full text of this article]

Sandra W Jacobson, professor

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48207, USA
(Sandra.Jacobson@wayne.edu)

Joseph L Jacobson, professor

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48207, USA


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Relevant Article

Effect of breast feeding on intelligence in children: prospective study, sibling pairs analysis, and meta-analysis
Geoff Der, G David Batty, and Ian J Deary
BMJ 2006 333: 945. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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