After a baby is born, many mothers contemplate whether they should be breastfed or not, for how long and if using formula only affects their babies. A follow-up study published in PLOS MEDICINE journal determined that breastmilk and formula do not influence children’s IQs.
Using formula or breastmilk is something between a mother and her child. In the follow-up study, researchers assessed over 13,557 participants using a series of verbal and nonverbal tests. All the instruments used determined that after 16 years, breastfeeding did not have an impact on the children’s neurocognitive development.
What you should know about the study:
The first study was conducted in Belarus, known as the PROBIT study (Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial). The same participants from this study were assessed when they were 6.5 years old, and researchers determined that children who were breastfed have better IQ scores.
The new follow-up study assessed the children at the age of 16. The results pinpointed that there was no extra benefit when it came to the overall neurocognitive functions that breastfed children might have had.
The authors of the study concluded:
Results of our findings at age 16 combined with results at age 6.5 years suggest that long-term effects of breastfeeding on neurocognitive development decrease in magnitude with advancing age, and the persistent benefit seems to be limited to verbal function.
The study is quite complex, and it involves many tools, measurement instruments of assessment, variables, statistics, and methodologies. Although breastfeeding is beneficial for many other reasons, formula has been developed to nurture and feed babies just as well. There are many other factors that can contribute to the development of children, especially the environment where they grow up.
Although previous studies linked breastfeeding to improved performance in tests, the PROBIT study is one of a kind. It is the largest randomized trial on breastmilk, and all possible variables are accounted for.