Two to three points more on IQ tests for a child who was breastfed for a year or more than for peers who were not breastfed for the same amount of time.

Extended breastfeeding duration and maternal awareness improve children's cognitive development

Credit: Timothy Meinberg, Unsplash, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

In a new study, a British research team found that children who were breastfed for more than one year had better cognitive development, and two to three points higher on intelligence tests up to the age of 14, compared to their peers who were not breastfed for the same lengths, and the study also showed an improvement. Slight increase in a child's cognitive development if his family has a better socioeconomic status, his mother has higher cognitive skills, and a greater awareness of the importance of breastfeeding.

The link between longer breastfeeding duration and improved cognitive development in children has been studied for several decades, says Rene Brera Elias, lead author of the study and a researcher in the Maternal and Maternal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. The results of previous research unanimously agreed that prolonged breastfeeding improves the cognitive level of children.

This is agreed by Rania Hosni Tamirk, Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatology at Cairo Medicine, saying: "The study confirms the results of a number of theories linking breastfeeding with its positive impact on the emotional and psychological balance and mental efficiency of children, and this theory has been proven before."

But there has been controversy over the results of these studies, especially those in developed countries, where mothers are more affluent, educated, and smarter according to tests, and consequently more nurses.

Accordingly, the controversial point and subject of this research was, is the length of the breastfeeding period the reason for the intelligence of these children or the mother’s social status, education level and intelligence?

Social level and mother's culture

Elias explains that there are many studies that have linked the social and educational level and the cognitive level of families in which children are born, while fewer studies have linked the length of the breastfeeding period and the children’s cognitive level. As for the studies that took into account the criterion of the length of breastfeeding as well as the social and educational level, there is no Agree that these two factors together enhance the chances of making a child smarter.