Is Breast Best for Intelligence?

Is there really evidence that breastfeeding is really the best when it comes to making babies smarter? In Brazil, one study done with 3,500 babies confirmed many beliefs about the benefits of breastfeeding. Babies that were breastfed for at least 12 months had a higher IQ, stayed in school longer, and had an overall higher income than those that were bottle-fed. Since there are a number of positive outcomes associated with breastfeeding, it is crucial that parents know these advantages. Health psychology researcher Eleanor Orlander, a Lecturer in Maternal and Child Health at City University London, said that better breastfeeding education is necessary to encourage more mothers to breastfeed. If a mother is aware of the demonstrated physical and cognitive benefits, she will have a more favorable attitude toward breastfeeding and will be more likely to stick with the process. However, while a mother may know the benefits of breastfeeding, there are many factors that can dissuade a mother from breastfeeding, including embarrassment or physical complications birth difficulties. To help encourage women in breastfeeding, Dr. Olander said that midwives can play an important role by promoting the advantages of breastfeeding, showing women how to breastfeed, and also understanding the women’s individual circumstances to provide woman-centred care.

However, other researchers doubt the strength of the observed benefits between breastfeeding and intelligence. A major problem with the research on breastfeeding and intelligence is that intelligence is also largely heritable, meaning that it is due to genetics rather than environment. Dr. Stuart Richie, a Postdoctoral Fellow in Cognitive Ageing at the University of Edinburgh, argues that most of the previous research done has not taken into account the effect of genes on the relationship: “To get around this problem, you can do one of two things; control for parental levels of intelligence, or compare siblings or twins within the same family to control for genetics. The authors of this study didn’t do either of these things in the paper, so we can’t know whether or not the apparent effect of breastfeeding on intelligence is just due to smarter parents tending to breastfeed more, for whatever reason.” Previous research that did use these controls has found no positive effects of breastfeeding.

Overall, until more experimental research is done, mothers should continue to do what they feel is necessary for them and their child, acknowledging the potential benefits but also noting the lack of definitive and conclusive research.