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Infant Feeding and IQ of Infants
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A recent study in Pediatrics suggested children who were breastfed as babies had higher scores on tests of vocabulary and reasoning at age five than those who were not breastfed. The International Formula Council (IFC)* agrees that breastfeeding is ideal and has specific maternal and child benefits. However, more research is needed on this topic before conclusions can be made.
Cause and effect cannot be determined from this observational study and it is plausible that other factors that the researchers did not evaluate, including paternal IQ, may be responsible for the observed association. Parental IQ may affect whether or not a mother breastfeeds and how well their children perform on IQ tests. Without controlling for this very critical paternal characteristic, the value of the data is limited.
Futhermore, the literature on this topic is inconsistent; some studies have found a relationship between IQ and breastfeeding, whereas others have not. For example, a 2006 study by Der et al. found no difference in IQ between children who were breastfed compared to those who were formula fed. Click here to read more about this study.
September 2, 2011
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*The International Formula Council is an association of manufacturers and marketers of formulated nutrition products, e.g., infant formulas and adult nutritionals, whose members are based predominantly in North America. IFC members are: Abbott Nutrition; Mead Johnson Nutrition; Nestle Infant Nutrition; PBM Products, LLC, A Perigo Company; and Pfizer Nutrition.