The
research found babies brought up on formula milk performed worse in
mathematics, memory, IQ, and motor function tests at the age of seven
compared to their breast-fed peers.
They
also had a smaller volume of grey matter in their brains, an area
important for processing and transmitting neural signals to other parts
of the brain.
New mothers are advised to breastfeed for the first six months to protect their babies against infections and allergies.
But more than 70 per cent of mothers in America stop early.
Breast is best! New research found
babies brought up on formula milk performed worse in mathematics,
memory, IQ, and motor function tests at the age of seven compared to
their breast-fed peers (file image)
Publishing
this study in the Journal of Pediatrics, the research team at Brigham
and Women's Hospital is urging women to consider nursing for longer.
They also implore the medical community to more efficiently investigate ways to help women who struggle to produce milk.
'Our
data support current recommendations for using mother's milk to feed
preterm babies during their neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
hospitalization,' says lead author Dr Mandy Brown, a physician in the
hospital's newborn department.
'This
is not only important for moms, but also for hospitals, employers, and
friends and family members, so that they can provide the support that's
needed during this time when mothers are under stress and working so
hard to produce milk for their babies.'
Researchers
studied infants born before 30 weeks gestation that were enrolled in
the Victorian Infant Brain Studies cohort from 2001-2003.
They
determined the number of days that infants received breast milk as more
than 50 per cent of of their nutritional intake from birth to 28 days
of life.
Additionally, researchers measured the children's brain volumes using MRI scans - first at six months, then at seven years old.
Once
they reached seven, the children underwent a series of tests - IQ,
reading, mathematics, attention, working memory, language, visual
perception and physical movement.
The
findings show that infants who received predominantly breast milk on
more days during their NICU hospitalization had larger deep nuclear gray
matter volume at six months.
By age seven, these breast-fed children performed better in IQ, mathematics, working memory, and motor function tests.
By age seven, breast-fed children in the study performed better in IQ, math, memory, and motor function tests
Overall,
ingesting more human milk correlated with better outcomes, including
larger regional brain volumes at term equivalent and improved cognitive
outcomes at age seven.
'Many
mothers of preterm babies have difficulty providing breast milk for
their babies, and we need to work hard to ensure that these mothers have
the best possible support systems in place to maximize their ability to
meet their own feeding goals,' says Belfort.
'It's
also important to note that there are so many factors that influence a
baby's development, with breast milk being just one.'
Researchers note some limitations on the study, including that it was observational.
Although
they adjusted for factors such as differences in maternal education,
some of the effects could possibly be explained by other factors that
were not measured, such as greater maternal involvement in other aspects
of infant care.
Belfort
adds that future studies using other MRI techniques could provide more
information about the specific ways in which human milk intake may
influence the structure and function of the brain.
Future
work is also needed to untangle the role of breastfeeding from other
types of maternal care and nurturing on development of the preterm
baby's brain.
Credit- Daily Mail
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