>After switching off the radio (earlier/later post)I picked up the
>newspaper.(The
>Herald 19th April 1996) It says:
>'New research has challengened the theory that breast-feeding babies helps to
>boost babies intelligence'
>Apparently a study has been done at the Medical Research Council Environmental
>Epidemiology Unit at Southampton Umiversity 'to establish whether
>breast-feeding has an effect on IQ'
<snip>
>It goes on to say that dummies(pacifiers) are definitely associated with lower
>intelligence.'Statistically, dummy use was the strongest predictor of lower
>intelligence'.

I caught the end of something about this on radio a couple of days ago, and
wondered where it had come from. Isn't it typical that the media have all
embraced it so wholeheartedly. It would be interesting to know who funded
this research, wouldn't it? Anyone care to make a guess? Also, it would be
interesting to know more about how they defined 'breastfeeding', how they
measured intelligence, etc. I would love to get hold of the article to find
out these things. Anyone have the reference? With regard to the dummies
bit, wouldn't you expect more bottlefed babies in the dummy user category?
- after all that's what dummies were invented for - providing the sucking
that the baby doesn't get enough of while feeding because the milk comes
out of the bottle so quickly. (However my own first-born runs counter to
this - being a dummy-addict for about 4 years after a very colicky start to
life, but breastfed for 2 years, and now at age 11 getting regular
achievement awards, selection for gifted programs at school, etc.)

Joy Anderson IBCLC, NMAA Breastfeeding Counsellor
Perth, Western Australia
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