http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mcn.12200/abstract
Huang, J., Vaughn, M. G. and Kremer, K. P. (2015), Breastfeeding and
child development outcomes: an investigation of the nurturing
hypothesis. Maternal & Child Nutrition. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12200
Really interesting study.
The 'nurturing hypothesis' suggests that because in Western settings,
especially, breastfeeding is more likely to be done by parents i) of
higher socio-economic status and ii) who are more likely to have a
certain set of nurturing, parenting behaviours, it acts as a proxy
for nurturing behaviour and it is this nurturing behaviour that
explains positive outcomes in academic ability in bf kids.
That is - because parents who bf are 'different' from parents who
don't breastfeed, their kids turn out to be 'different' ie perform
better on cognition tests.
But this study challenges this hypothesis by re-exmining the stats
and the outcomes.
For sure, they say, parents who breastfeed *are* different.
But the *behaviour* of their kids is no different from the kids who
were not breastfed.
Incidence of behaviour problems is lower in parents of higher SES and
those who show nurturing behaviours. But when you slice the stats to
look at breastfeeding, it makes no difference.....and because
breastfeeding has no impact either way on behaviour problems, the
inference is that its impact on academic performance is *independent
of* parental SES (defined by educational attainment and income) and
parental behaviour.
So breastfeeding *is* working on these kids' cognitive development -
it's nothing to do with coming from a wealthier, more educated
background, or having more 'caring' parents.
(Duration of breastfeeding was recorded, but I can't see a 'dose
response' analysis, unfortunately).
Heather Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
--
***********************************************
Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome
|
