Breastfeeding leads to better behaviour in kids: Study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 10 2011

A new study shows that just four months of breastfeeding can cut the risk of children becoming badly behaved by almost a third. It found 16 per cent of children brought up on formula milk had problems including anxiety, lying, stealing and hyperactivity – more than double the proportion breastfed for at least four months.

The researchers at the Oxford University took into account other influences such as social and economic background before concluding that, the reduction in the risk of behavioural problems at age five brought about by breastfeeding is 30 per cent.

Guidelines recommend mothers to breastfeed for the first six months to protect their babies against stomach bugs, chest infections, asthma, eczema and allergies. It also has health benefits for mothers. But the UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe, with almost one in three new mothers never attempting it, compared with 2 per cent of mothers in Sweden. For this study 9,500 mothers and babies were looked at by Dr Maria Quigley of the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University and her colleagues. These mothers and babies were part of the Millennium Cohort Study in 2000-2001.

Dr Quigley said possible reasons for the findings included greater interaction between mother and child because of close physical contact from an early age. In the study of infants born in the UK over a 12-month period between 2000 and 2001, 29 per cent of children born after a full-term pregnancy and 21 per cent of those born prematurely were breastfed for at least four months. Parents were asked to complete questionnaires designed to assess the behaviour of their children at the age of five.

The results showed that 16 per cent of formula-fed children and 6 per cent of breastfed children were given abnormal scores, indicating behavioural problems. For full-term babies, the pattern persisted after taking account of social and economic factors, says a report in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

One possible suggestion is that breast milk contains large amounts of essential long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, growth factors and hormones which play a role in the development and function of the brain and nervous system. The value of fatty acids means that over the last decade manufacturers have started to supplement formula milks with them, though the effectiveness of supplementation remains unclear, the researchers said.

Dr Quigley said, “We found that children who were breastfed for at least four months were less likely to have behavioural problems at age five. However, that observation might not have been the direct result of breastfeeding – it could have been down to a number of factors. Fewer behavioural problems are another potential benefit of breastfeeding. As a group, mothers who breastfed for four months were very different socially to those who formula fed. They were more likely to be older, better educated and in a higher socio-economic position.” She added, “We just don’t know whether it is because of the constituents in breast milk which are lacking in formula, or the close interaction with the mum during breastfeeding. But it does begin to look like we can add fewer behavioural problems as another potential benefit of breastfeeding.”

“Our results provide even more evidence for the benefits of breastfeeding,” Dr Quigley said. “Mothers who want to breastfeed should be given all the support they need. Many women struggle to breastfeed for as long as they might otherwise like, and many don't receive the support that might make a difference,” she concluded.

Peter Kinderman, professor of clinical psychology at Liverpool University, called it “a very good piece of research published in an important journal”. He said he suspected the mother-child bonding that takes place during breastfeeding might be the most important factor. “Positive bonding between parent and child is known to be fantastically helpful for development," he said, noting that the authors specifically took into account factors such as childcare arrangements because they are so well-established as important influences in development. This is more evidence of the importance of breastfeeding and mother-baby attachment, not just for physical health but also for the psychological development of the child,” he said. The authors said that more work needed to be done to see if their findings would contrast with other ethnic groups.