Breastfeeding is Associated with Improved Child Cognitive Development: A Population-Based Cohort Study

Source: Science Direct 

Maria A. Quigley BA, MSc^a, , , Christine Hockley BA^a, Claire Carson BSc, MSc, PhD^a, Yvonne Kelly BSc, PhD^b, Mary J. Renfrew RGN, SCM, DN, BSc, PhD^c, Amanda Sacker BSc, PhD^b

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a	National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

b	Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom

c	Mother and Infant Research Unit, University of York, York, United Kingdom

Received 12 February 2011; revised 31 May 2011; Accepted 23 June 2011. Available online 11 August 2011.

Objective

To assess the association between breastfeeding and child cognitive development in term and preterm children.

Study design

We analyzed data on white singleton children from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study. Children were grouped according to breastfeeding duration. Results were stratified by gestational age at birth: 37 to 42 weeks (term, n = 11 101), and 28 to 36 weeks (preterm, n = 778). British Ability Scales tests were administered at age 5 years (naming vocabulary, pattern construction, and picture similarities subscales).

Results

The mean scores for all subscales increased with breastfeeding duration. After adjusting for confounders, there was a significant difference in mean score between children who were breastfed and children who were never breastfed: in term children, a two-point increase in score for picture similarities (when breastfed ≥4 months) and naming vocabulary (when breastfed ≥6 months); in preterm children, a 4-point increase for naming vocabulary (when breastfed ≥4 months) and picture similarities (when breastfed ≥2 months) and a 6-point increase for pattern construction (when breastfed ≥2 months). These differences suggest that breastfed children will be 1 to 6 months ahead of children who were never breastfed.

Conclusions

In white, singleton children in the United Kingdom, breastfeeding is associated with improved cognitive development, particularly in children born preterm.