Breastfed babies are smarter because their mums are clever
Wednesday 4th October 2006
Scientists have shed more light on a decades old conundrum: Does breastfeeding make babies smarter?
The research from the Medical Research Council and University of Edinburgh, published in the BMJ, found that mothers who breastfed tended to be more intelligent, more highly educated and to provide a more stimulating home environment.
Geoff Der, a statistician from the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, led the study:
“This question has been debated ever since a link between the two was first discovered in 1929. Breastfed children do tend to score higher on intelligence tests, but they also tend to come from more advantaged backgrounds.”
“We analysed data from more than 5,000 children and 3,000 mothers in the USA, and found that mothers who breastfeed tend to be more intelligent. When this fact was taken into account, most of the relationship between breastfeeding and the child’s intelligence disappeared. The rest was accounted for by other aspects of the family background.”
“We also looked at families where one child was breastfed and another wasn’t. Comparing two people from the same family like this is a good way of getting results that are less affected by family background. This confirmed the earlier results - the breastfed child was no more intelligent.”
Putting the results together with other studies that measured the mother’s IQ confirmed this pattern. Professor Deary, a psychologist from the University of Edinburgh, explained:
“Most other studies have considered it sufficient to take account of the mother’s education in the analysis linking breastfeeding and children’s intelligence. We show that a measure of her IQ is needed.”
Mr Der concluded:
“This research shows that intelligence is determined by factors other than breastfeeding. But breastfeeding has many benefits for both mother and child. It’s definitely the smart thing to do.”
Notes to editors
Phone: 020 7637 6011
press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk
Reference MRC/33/06
