Hello! My name is Andrea Montonye and I am a junior nursing student
at the University of North Dakota.  I am currently taking a childbearing
class and will soon be doing clinicals on the OB unit.  I joined this
listserv a few weeks ago and have enjoyed learning about the different
topics that have been discussed so far.
     I have learned a lot this past year about the topic of breastfeeding
and have found it to be particularly interesting.  I did some research on
the subject and found that there are numerous advantages of breastfeeding
over formula feeding.  One advantage I came across was the influence
breastfeeding has on cognitive development.  According to Drane and
Logemann (2000), nineteen studies found a statistically significant
advantage in cognitive development to children who were partially or
exclusively breastfed compared with children who were formula fed.
     A study done four years later also examined the influence of
breastfeeding on cognitive development.  The importance of long-chain
polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) in the infant’s neurologic development,
and their presence in maternal milk, may in part account for the effect of
breastfeeding on the results of mental development or intelligence
testing.  Cognitive development was analyzed using the Bayley Infant
Development Tests, which assess both mental and psychomotor development on
a dual index.  The study found that at 24 months of age, infants breastfed
for longer than four months scored higher than those breastfed for four
months or less and higher than formula fed infants (Gomez-Sanchiz, Canete,
Rodero, Baeza, & Gonzalez, 2004).
     The benefits stated above were not only evident at 24 months of age,
but also at ages four and eleven.  This was concluded in another study
that analyzed the correlation of cognitive development and breastfeeding.
The study showed that children who were breastfed in infancy had
significantly higher scores on IQ tests at both ages, even after adjusting
for social class and education (Jacobson, Chiodo, & Jacobson, 1999).  A
study conducted by Angelsen, Vik, Jacobsen, and Bakketeig (2001) showed
that at five years of age, the mean total IQ was lower in children
breastfed for less than three months compared to children breastfed for at
least six months.  Children breastfed for less than three months had a
higher risk, compared children breastfed for at least six months, of
having a low total IQ score.
     My question is what have you seen or heard about the correlation
between breastfeeding and cognitive development in infants?

Thank you,

Andrea Montonye, SN




                                References

Angelsen, N., Vik, T., Jacobsen, G., & Bakketeig, L. (2001). Breastfeeding
and cognitive development at age 1 and 5 years. Arch Dis Child, 85: 183-
188.

Drane, D.L. & Logemann, J.A. (2000). A critical evaluation of evidence on
association between type of infant feeding and cognitive development.
Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemeology, 14: 349-356.

Gomez-Sanchiz, M., Canete, R., Rodero, I., Baeza, J., & Gonzalez, J.
(2004, October). Influence of breastfeeding and parental intelligence on
cognitive development in the 24-month-old child. Clinical Pediatrics, 43,
8: 753-761.

Jacobson, S.W., Chiodo, L.M., & Jacobson, J.L. (1999, May). Breastfeeding
effects on intelligence quotient in 4- and 11-year-old children.
Pediatrics, 103: 71-76.

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