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The impact of short-term predominate breastfeeding on cognitive outcome at 5 years
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Date
2019-09-13
Authors
Lenehan, Sonia M.
Boylan, Geraldine B.
Livingstone, Vicki
Fogarty, Leanna
Twomey, Deirdre Marie
Nikolovski, Janeta
Irvine, Alan D.
Kiely, Mairead E.
Kenny, Louise C.
Hourihane, Jonathan O'B.
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Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Abstract
Aim: Breastfeeding is associated with IQ, school attendance and income. Despite the known benefits of breastfeeding, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6-months is low globally. We examined the effect of short-term breastfeeding on long-term IQ. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the prospective Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study, children were categorised as predominantly breastfed (n = 288) versus exclusively formula-fed (n = 254) at 2-months of age. Infants (n = 404) receiving mixed-feeding were excluded. Outcome was assessed using the KBIT II at 5-years. Multivariable linear regression was used to adjust for confounding variables. Results: Following adjustment for confounding variables, children, predominately breastfed at 2-months of age, demonstrated increased overall IQ (2.00 points (95% CI: 0.35 to 3.65) ; p = 0.018) and non-verbal IQ at 5-years of age (1.88 points (95% CI: 0.22 to 3.54); p = 0.027) compared to those never breastfed. No significant relationship was found with verbal IQ (p = 0.154). Conclusion: A significant increase in composite and non-verbal IQ at 5-years of age was associated with short-term breastfeeding. This study adds to a growing body of evidence that short-term breastfeeding promotes healthy cognitive development.
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Keywords
Breastfeeding , Cognition , IQ
Citation
Lenehan, S. M., Boylan, G. B., Livingstone, V., Fogarty, L., Twomey, D. M., Nikolovski, J., Irvine, A. D., Kiely, M., Kenny, L. C., Hourihane, J. O'B and Murray, D. M. (2019) 'The impact of short-term predominate breastfeeding on cognitive outcome at 5 years', Acta Paediatrica. doi: 10.1111/apa.15014
Copyright
© 2019, Foundation Acta Pædiatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Lenehan, S. M., Boylan, G. B., Livingstone, V., Fogarty, L., Twomey, D. M., Nikolovski, J., Irvine, A. D., Kiely, M., Kenny, L. C., Hourihane, J. O'B and Murray, D. M. (2019) 'The impact of short-term predominate breastfeeding on cognitive outcome at 5 years', Acta Paediatrica. doi: 10.1111/apa.15014, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.15014. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.