"Prolonged and Exclusive Breastfeeding Makes Kids Smarter"
Breastfeeding appears to boost kids’ IQ and school performance: study
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gmevM3DMQG78F-YAQcLYU4FdwOrg
“‘Prolonged, exclusive breastfeeding appears to give children a cognitive advantage over formula-fed kids, increasing IQ by three to four points on average and boosting later academic performance.’”
“‘Our study provides the strongest evidence to date that prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding makes kids smarter,’”
“By the time children reached an average age of 6 1/2, those in the breastfeeding group scored higher on tests measuring verbal intelligence, non-verbal intelligence and overall intelligence. Breastfed children also performed significantly higher academically than formula-fed children.”
“‘But if you consider for the whole population shifting the mean (IQ score) up three or four points, that means fewer difficulties for kids at the lower end and more Einsteins and Mozarts at the high end.’”
“‘I think this (prolonged, exclusive breastfeeding) is a goal that’s achievable by the vast majority of mothers,’ he said. ‘Those who cannot – and there are some who cannot – and there are some who could but don’t want to, have other ways of stimulating their children and improving their IQ, like reading and playing with their children.’”
“‘And it might even be that the effect that we’re seeing is not something in the (breast) milk but has something to do with the nature of the contact, the physical contact or with what transpires between the mother and the baby verbally or emotionally at the time of the feeding, and that maybe is transposable to other feeding modes.’”
“The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, although a mother can continue to breastfeed along with giving solid foods until the child is two years or more.”
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