Breastfeeding and intelligence

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In general, breastfeeding really does improve neuropsychic development and intelligence. So, in a study by Rogers in 1978, which covered more than 5 thousand children, it turned out that by the age of 15, according to the vast majority of tests of neuropsychic development, breastfed children had significant advantages over artificially fed children. And among schoolchildren who came under the supervision of neuropsychiatric specialists in connection with the difficulties of schooling, according to Menkes, children who received artificial feeding predominated.

Modern Russian studies support these data: for example, in Volgograd in 2005, a retrospective analysis of 414 developmental histories of one-year-old children was carried out. The aim of the study was to study morbidity, neuropsychic and physical development, depending on the type of feeding of children: breastfeeding, mixed or artificial. Children (full-term and practically healthy at birth) were divided into three groups: the first - exclusively breastfed for up to 6 months; the second - breastfeeding plus supplementation with water and complementary foods at the age of 3-4 months; the third group is artificial feeding. Development outstripping by the year was demonstrated by 11.9% of infants, 9.7% of children with mixed feeding and 1% of artificial people. A delay in development by 1 year was shown, respectively, by 1% of infants, 2, 9% of babies on mixed feeding and 14% of artificial people.

Another interesting study was done in Astrakhan - this is the observation of a group of 124 children for 16 years. We compared babies who were breastfed from a year to one and a half years, and those who were transferred to artificial feeding in the first month of life. Here are just some of the results: in two years, a delay in speech development was shown by 27.7% of artificial and

17.9% of babies. Hysterical behavior (unfriendly behavior towards others, poor cognitive activity, pugnaciousness, hysteria - in a word, the worst manifestations of the so-called "crisis of two years") were shown by 6, 9% of infants and 17, 9% of artificial people. At three years old, 79% of infants and 54% of artificial ones performed well the test of active speech, 77.6% of infants and 51.4% of artificial ones showed good sensory development. And so on … But the most, probably, staggering data - about the number of adolescents registered with the police: these are 2 children out of 64 who were once breastfed (moreover, the mothers of these two were classified in the group of "unreliable", that is, with violations of maternal behavior), and 11 out of 60 "artificial" …

Why is this happening? The main reason is the inferiority of the composition of any formula compared to the composition of breast milk. While breast milk contains about 400 components, the ratio of which varies depending on the needs of each individual baby, in the most advanced mixtures of such components there are only 40 to 50. For example, taurine, which directly affects the development of the brain, was recently added to some mixtures. At the same time, there are still a lot of components that the child needs, which have not been added to the mixture. Many mixtures still lack taurine. Just as some mixtures contain selenium, some do not, some have bifidobacteria, some do not, and so on. The addition of oligosaccharides to the mixture is also advertised - "like in breast milk". But in fact, only 2 oligosaccharides out of 130 found in breast milk have been added …

In the second place, the influence is undoubtedly exerted by the close communication of the mother with the baby, which naturally occurs easier and easier with breastfeeding. There is also a sound signaling of mutual adaptation: several types of sounds from the side of the child - signals of hunger, satiety, convenience or inconvenience of position, and so on. From the mother's side, words and intonation of reassurance, support, promises of help. Mom and baby are actively communicating in order to cooperate their actions during the feeding process. Each nursing mother noticed how the baby, having sucked a little and satisfied the first hunger, seemed to freeze, focusing on her face and facial expressions, actively perceiving the features of her mother's body, voice, smell, nipple elasticity, milk taste and other possible impressions. This is how development is stimulated. While with artificial feeding, the feedings themselves are more rare, and in some cases the mother can even just leave the bottle to the baby and go about her own business.

But at the same time, it is in communication with the mother that there is an opportunity to somewhat compensate for the difference between infants and "artificial". It can be noted that in all studies there is still a fairly significant percentage of "artificial" who also showed good developmental results, and a certain percentage of infants with negative results. So, everything happens in life, and for some reason sometimes very loving, caring mothers cannot breastfeed. And if such a mother is attentive to the needs of her baby (even if he feeds from a bottle), communicates a lot with him, carries him in her arms, caresses, in every way contributing to his development, then her baby will develop no worse than many babies whose mothers are not so attentive to their children.

This means that under exactly the same conditions of upbringing, the baby will undoubtedly have advantages over the "artificial", precisely due to feeding with breast milk, and not with formula. But at the same time, an “artificial” baby in an attentive, caring, loving, highly educated mother will obviously develop better than a baby in an inattentive, less caring mother who feeds according to the regime and is inclined to ignore the baby's needs in favor of her needs.

Irina Ryukhova

History of breastfeeding in Russia

Natural parenting: my first experience

Artificial baby formulas

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