Breastfeeding has a plethora of benefits for both mom and baby. Well, per a new research study, Breastfed babies may benefit from another perk, dependent upon the length that a mom breastfeeds, future test scores may receive a positive impact.
A report published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, lead by study author Dr. Reneé Pereyra-Elías, a doctoral student and researcher in the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, followed 5,000 British children starting in the early 2000s to their last year of high school.
The research study divided children into groups based upon how long they were breastfed. Results concluded that there was improvement in test scores of those children who were breastfed longer as opposed to those who were not breastfed at all or only breastfed for a small amount of time.
“Compared with those who never had breast milk, children who were breastfed for at least 12 months were 39% more likely to have a high pass for both math and English GCSE exams and were 25% less likely to fail the English exam.” Pereyra-Elía said on the results of his study.
Dr. Kevin McConway, professor emeritus of applied statistics at the Open University in England, who was not involved in the research study, said to CNN.com, that although the results were interesting, there are limitations to a study as such.
“Though the results are certainly interesting, you have to bear in mind the limitations that inevitably arise in research using observational data from major cohort studies,” Dr. McConway said.
Dr. McConway pointed out that the “causation” of the results is not clear.
“It’s not possible to be certain about what’s causing what,” Dr. McConway said. He continued, pointing out that many women who are in a higher socioeconomic group tend to breastfeed.
He added, “That doesn’t mean that it’s the breastfeeding that causes the children to do well at school — obviously it could be some other aspect of the fact that their family is relatively well off.”
As we know, children who grow in a higher socioeconomic group are more likely to do better in school as a result of access to private tutors, extra study sessions, etc.
Although more work needs to be done to further research and prove the conclusions of the study, Pereyra-Elías said that the main takeaway for families should be to consider breastfeeding, if possible, because of the benefits.
Photo Credit(s)/Featured Image: @blackbreastfeedingmamas; @blackbreastfeedingweek
