Breast-Fed Baby May Become Higher-IQ Child, Study Suggests

By Denise Mann


Mothers can add higher child IQ to the list of benefits associated with breast-feeding: New research shows that the longer a new mom breast-feeds up to one year, the greater the benefit on her baby's intelligence.

Babies who were breast-fed for the first year of life gained 4 points on their IQ, compared with babies who were not breast-fed for as long, according to the findings, published online July 29 in JAMA Pediatrics. These children were better able to understand what others were telling them (receptive language) at 3 years and had higher verbal and nonverbal intelligence at 7 years.

"These findings support national and international recommendations to promote exclusive breast-feeding through age 6 months and continuation of breast-feeding through at least age 1 year," the study authors concluded.

For the study, researchers led by Dr. Mandy Belfort, of Boston Children's Hospital, followed more than 1,300 mothers and their children. Moms were asked about breast-feeding at 6 and 12 months. Children completed standard intelligence tests at age 3 years and 7 years. Breast-fed babies scored higher on these tests even when researchers controlled for other factors that may affect a child's IQ such as the mom's intelligence.

Belfort's team also looked at whether fish intake while breast-feeding had any bearing on childhood intelligence, but it did not seem to have a major effect. Some research had suggested that omega-3 fatty acids in fish may be important for infant brain development.

More here.

Breastfeeding may boost post-baby weight loss

Posted by Neill Abayon

By Joene Hendry

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New moms may be better able to return to their pre-pregnancy weight by exclusively breastfeeding their infants, according to new research.

"The practice of exclusive breastfeeding helps mothers lose the weight accumulated during pregnancy and do that faster compared to those who don't practice exclusive breastfeeding," Dr. Alex Kojo Anderson, of the University of Georgia in Athens, told Reuters Health.

Anderson and colleagues compared pre-pregnancy and at-delivery weight, with weight at 12 weeks after delivery, among 24 mothers, aged 19 to 42 years. Seventeen of these new moms exclusively breastfed their infants, while 9 mothers mixed-fed their infants using formula or a combination of formula and breastmilk.

According to the findings, published online in the International Breastfeeding Journal, during the first 4 weeks after delivery, mothers in the mixed feeding group lost more of their at-delivery weight than did mothers who exclusively breastfed. However, from 8 to 12 weeks this trend reversed.

When Anderson's team compared the women's post-pregnancy weight loss according to their pre-pregnancy weight, mothers who exclusively breastfed lost more weight at 2-, 4-, 8-, and 12-weeks after delivery than did mothers in the mixed feeding group.

This weight loss trend was evident in spite of the greater caloric intake and lower activity level among breastfeeding mothers, compared with mixed feeding mothers, the investigators found.

Read the full article here.