Posted on 10/07/2006 6:02:04 PM PDT by Mr. Brightside
October 05, 2006
Breast-Feeding, Intelligence Link Probed
By TARIQ PANJA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON (AP) - Breast-fed children are more intelligent than their bottle-fed counterparts, but this has nothing to do with the content of the milk they receive, a study published in the British Medical Journal said.
For decades scientists have been looking for a correlation between feeding and intelligence, but the report says genetic and environmental factors affect a child's intellect.
Researchers, who analyzed data from more than 5,000 children and 3,000 mothers in the United States, found that mothers who breast-feed tend to be more intelligent, according to a study published Wednesday on the journal's Web site.
"When this fact was taken into account, most of the relationship between breast-feeding and the child's intelligence disappeared," said Jeff Dar, one of the report's authors.
"This research shows that intelligence is determined by factors other than breast-feeding,"
The report won't end the debate about the relationship between intelligence and breast-feeding.
"The problem is trying to show the impact of breast-feeding over and above outside variables," said Mike Woolridge, senior lecturer in infant feeding at the University of Leeds.
He said other studies on the subject have claimed a link to intelligence.
"I fundamentally believe breast-feeding builds a better, more balanced brain in terms of its chemical composition and I'm sure you can measure that in terms of brain performance," Woolridge said.
The researchers found that children who were breast-fed did better on IQ tests, but this was because their mothers were more intelligent, better educated and able to provide a more stimulating home environment.
Part of the research methodology included testing pairs of siblings, for whom feeding habits differed.
"Comparing two people from the same family like this is a good way of getting results that are less affected by family background. This confirmed the earlier results - the breast-fed child was no more intelligent," Dar said.
Dr. Chris Lucas, director of the Early Childhood Service at the New York University Child Study Center, praised the report for taking into account the impact of maternal intelligence on the findings.
"Intelligence is probably one of the most heritable things. Intelligence of a child is very much determined by the intelligence of the parents," he said. "If you don't measure the mother's intelligence, it may appear that there is a link with breast-feeding."
Dar said though his team's study found no link to intelligence, breast-feeding was "definitely the smart thing to do," because of other benefits to both mother and child, including a stronger ability to ward off infections, respiratory illnesses and protection against developing allergies.
Maybe it was because I was a vet tech (horses) and bred and showed cats for many years . . . I had worked with foals and kittens so much that it was really old hat to me, same basic principles just the milk bar is in a slightly different location . . .
Good on ya for sticking with it! I'm convinced that old Mother Nature has a few tricks up her sleeve that the formula makers haven't quite caught up with yet.
Yup, that's pretty much all they're good for.
true.
But lets consider how they might see it. Finding the time to pump all day or leak through your shirt. Some women don't have office jobs or neat little bathrooms to use for this job.
Freezing the milk, thawing the milk, hoping you don't skip a pumping session or risk mastitis.(sp?)
If you believe that bottle feeding is as healthy as breast for your baby then something as simple as the above reasons would be enough to sway you to not breastfeed.
Yikes.....10 and a half pounds? I can't imagine.
But you are right, diet is so very important. fortunately for me, I love to cook, and fortunately for our daughter my husband is a fanatic about fresh fruits and veggies and salads.
Funny, I just put down my 2 month old son. I tend to breastfeed while freeping. It's hard to type, depending on which breast he's on, of course. Talk about MULTITASKING!
I totally agree.
LOL. I've tried wearing my daughter in my sling while Freeping and I just can't manage it. Especially now that she's reaching out for everything.
But thankfully she's down for the night (just started sleeping through the night!!!!) and I'm sitting here with my beer.
Oh MY - same exact hing happened to me!!!!!!!!!!
ROFLMSS!!!!!!!!
I didn't pump at work because I thought the bathrooms were nasty and I shared an office. It still worked out o.k. and I never got mastitis (that's an infection of the breast tissue anyhow, not caused by irregular milking -- even in cows.) We did share a case of thrush (another infection, also not caused by irregular feeding), but the proper meds for both of us soon set that right.
A lot of that talk is excuses by folks who don't want to take the time to make it work. Excepting always the people who have serious difficulties - some do!
Well, you know what the kids always say..."Thanks for the mammaries!"
Two old farmers from the country somehow fetched up in the bar of the Holland House hotel in Manhattan, back around the turn of the last century. They stood for awhile looking at the well-endowed Bouguereau nymph reclining over the bar. One asked the other, "You ever seen anything like that before?" Replied the second, "Not since I been weaned."
LOL - I used to do the same thing, alas I was finished breastfeeding before I started FReeping, but I did do a lot of online stuff that included a lot of typing.
He's 2 months old? Go get some sleep.
I am the poster child for mishaps while breasfeeding. All of my children were c-sections, and had all of the awful things (blisters, open sores, mastitis etc) for the first 4 weeks with every one of my babies. By the Grace of God, I breastfeed each one until they were two. I can't even imagine not having nursed my children...it was such an important part of their babyhood and of my early motherhood.
Yummers
I had one of each. My daughter was, and is, skinny as a rail. My son was such a porker as a baby. Now he's solid as all get out but not fat in the least. My third was inbetween. But none are fat now.
Oh man, don't even get me started on awful things. I average about 1 blocked duct a week. Always the same place too. It's so painful.
Sorry. You must have mistaken this for a "Hooter's Girls" thread.
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