New Research: The effect of short‐term breastfeeding on long‐term IQ

New research by INFANT PhD candidate, Sonia Lenehan and team has been published in a world-leading paediatric research journal, Acta Paediatrica.

Sonia’s research examined the effect of short-term breastfeeding on long-term IQ.

Breastfeeding has many health benefits for infants, including the prevention of infections. It also has a positive impact on IQ and school attendance.

However, despite the known benefits associated with breastfeeding the rate of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months is low globally, and Ireland is no exception.

Using data from the Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study, the Kaufmann Brief Intelligence Test (a neurodevelopmental assessment) was administered to all children in the study.

The results demonstrate that predominately breastfeeding, even for a short duration in early infancy, has a positive impact on the cognitive development of a child. While not all mothers can breastfeed for extended periods, all should be encouraged by the findings.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/apa.15014#.XYpx_GDwBaM.twitter