I've been No Mail, but haven't seen this mentioned yet. Sorry if it's
already been discussed.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, Newcastle upon Tyne UK

>
>
>ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD
>Breastfeeding for less than 3 months may affect child's intelligence
>[Breastfeeding and cognitive development at age 1 and 5 years 2001; 85:
>183-8]
>Breastfeeding for less than 3 months may affect a child's intellectual
>development, finds research in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
>The intellectual and motor skills of 345 randomly selected children were
>assessed at the ages of 13 months and 5 years. The length of time they were
>breastfed was recorded. Almost two thirds of them were breastfed for six
>months or more; 17 per cent were breastfed for less than three months.
>Duration of breastfeeding did not affect the development of motor skills at
>either age. But children breastfed for less than three months were more
>likely to score below average for mental skills at 13 months and total
>intelligence at 5 years than children breastfed for six months or more. The
>differences persisted even after taking into account factors likely to bias
>the results, such as mother's age, intelligence, education, and smoking
>habit.
>The authors suggest that factors associated with breastfeeding, such as
>intimacy, may be important for a child's cognitive development, as well as
>the nutrients contained in breast milk. But they conclude that breastfeeding
>for longer benefits a child's cognitive development.
>Contact:
>Dr Torstein Vik, Department of Community Medicine, Norwegian University of
>Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
>Tel: +47 73 59 88 82/76
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>Click here to view the full paper:
>http://press.psprings.co.uk/adc/september/adc-00645.pdf
>

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