May 6, 2008 12:41 PM
Another good reason to breastfeed: smarter kids
Hot off the press:
Breast-feeding may boost children's IQ Study provides new evidence that nursing makes kids smarterWASHINGTON - A new study provides some of the best evidence to date that breast-feeding can make children smarter, an international team of researchers said.
Children whose mothers breast-fed them longer and did not mix in baby formula scored higher on intelligence tests, the researchers in Canada and Belarus reported.
Read entire article here.
Is this deja vu? Didn't we already know this? Or is this one of those instances of science spending a bunch of money proving something we already knew?
And how do you like that breastfeeding icon? I just found it while searching for images. who knew?
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Comments
I was thinking the same thing as you this morning when I heard this report ("didn't we already know this?"). I'm guessing there was a preliminary study and report before the "real" study.
But now we have all of these new fangled formulas with DHA and Lipil, so a new study will have to be funded to compare the smart formula kids with the breast fed kids.
I'm only half serious.
Posted by: Jeanne | May 6, 2008 1:29 PM
Hey, Barbara. Linked off of this article I found another, called 1 in 3 parents lacks knowledge about babies. Whenever I hear that X percent of the population can't correctly answer a survey or test, I always want to see the questions. I've been poking around trying to find it, but I thought you might have more luck. Do you think you could find the survey questions and answers for us?
Posted by: Michelle Potter | May 6, 2008 1:40 PM
I love that symbol/icon. I don't even think it's been a year since that icon has been around. I remember the contest they held for an international sign/graphic for breastfeeding. (One of my friends entered and made it into the top twelve, that's how I know). It was sponsored by Mothering.com. Here's an interview with the winner.
Posted by: SmockLady | May 6, 2008 1:41 PM
Yup, old news. Since breastfeeding should be the standard, it would be more accurate to say that babies fed artificial milk tended to have lower IQs. This article is great: http://amomsblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/breastfeeding-language/
Just like we say smokers have a higher risk of lung cancer, rather than non-smokers have a lower risk. Love the icon!
Posted by: julianne | May 6, 2008 1:47 PM
Julianne - I agree that breastmilk is best. I have breastfed all six of my children, but I have a very close friend who suffered breast cancer in both breasts before she was twenty. She got married and now has been blessed with two children she was told treatment would never let her have. but it pains her greatly when she hears statements like the one you made with that choice of wording:
it would be more accurate to say that babies fed artificial milk tended to have lower IQs
Words can cut like knife and I think it is important not to tear mothers down, but to support them and when some mothers can not (even those who chose not) to breastfeed should get the same kind of love and encouragement as any other breastfeeding mother would. Motherhood along with it's blessings has enough of it's own struggling moments without all the mommy wars (working vs. non-working and breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding).
If my interpretation of your words was too harsh, please forgive, but it pains me and brings me to tears for this friend of mine who weeps at times for NOT being able to give her children what she believes is best and can not give. Even as a breastfeeding mom myself, I tend to get defensive for those who can't.
Posted by: SmockLady | May 6, 2008 2:54 PM
Thank you SmockLady. This is one of those mommy war items indeed. I had a terrible time trying to breast feed my children. They just wouldn't latch on. I quit after 4 days with each one after they had latched on once or twice the whole time. The screaming was unbearable. I cringe when I hear women say 'If you'd just tried harder' or 'if you'd just stuck it out longer'. Yes yes I know and maybe they're right but I'm okay and my kids are more than okay. To hear that my kids may have a lower IQ just rubs salt in the wound. I'm still a huge advocate of breastfeeding BTW.
Posted by: Alison | May 6, 2008 3:42 PM
I think maybe the reason this headline is new news is that recently (6 months to 1 year ago--I'm not sure) there was a study that claimed to have found that the higher intelligence of breastfed babies was due to the better quality of maternal interactions offered by mothers who chose to breastfeed, rather than the breastmilk itself. I don't have a link to offer, but I remember reading about the study.
I think the way in which a baby is given a bottle is crucial. I know some bottle feeding moms who just prop the baby in the swing and let them basically feed themselves. Other bottle feeding moms use every feeding as an opportunity to interact, bond, and show affection. It would be interesting to see a study that tried to isolate factors like these, and then offered a more detailed comparison with breastfed infants.
Posted by: Elizabeth | May 6, 2008 7:31 PM
Alison and Smocklady, Barbara didn't post anything mommywar-like. Oftentimes, when we feel sensitive about a certain subject, we can get defensive and read into something that just isn't there. Unless Barbara has edited her comment, I see nothing inflammatory. She didn't say that women who don't breastfeed are bad or wrong. It was just straight factual commentary. Neither did she give the moral high ground to women who do breastfeed.
Fact: Breastfed children tend to have higher IQs. No additional commentary.
The study could be wrong. It could be that the researchers read the data incorrectly, or they wrongly inferred which cause brought about the effect. That is always a possibility.
My niece could not breastfeed, and my sister pumped for four months before her milk gave out. Did those four months help her baby's IQ? I doubt it makes a difference since she is neurologically compromised and brain damaged due to a difficult birth. You do the best you can, ignore the haters, and don't take offense at people who genuinely didn't give any.
Posted by: Amy K. | May 7, 2008 12:04 AM
I see that it was not Barbara's post that evoked the response from the two commenters but a previous comment. That comment, though not politic, wasn't actually judgmental either.
I see so many arguments get started from people who take offense at the unoffensive that maybe I've started getting oversensitive about THAT. :)
Posted by: Amy K. | May 7, 2008 12:22 AM
Amy K, I just want it to be clear here. (first that you you for correcting the comment you made about it being Barbara who we were referring to). Also, if it had been read more clearly my initial response to Julianne was not about the topic itself, but about her choice of wording. I'm not arguing whether or not Breastfeeding results in higher IQs is fact or fiction. I'm not arguing that it shouldn't be promoted. I think it should be; I think we should encourage as many mothers as we can to breastfeed. but that does not mean we have to tear others down in the process. There is a big difference between these two statements; they imply something different:
Breastfed children tend to have higher IQs.
babies fed artificial milk tended to have lower IQs
The former implies the positive. The latter implies the negative. The former encourages mothers to breastfeed. The latter tears down the ones who don't/can't.
See, it's the words I was pointing to, not the fact.
Posted by: SmockLady | May 7, 2008 9:31 AM
SmockLady and Allison- I think if you read the article that was linked to by Julianne you'll see the argument for the phrasing she used. It wasn't something I had ever considered before, but I do think it makes a lot of sense. It also addresses the concern of mothers feeling guilty, etc. And further it addresses the importance of broader access to milk banks for all babies who are in circumstances of not being able to receive milk from their mother, not just sick preemies, which addresses the very sad situation that your friend was in Smock Lady. That sometimes nursing simply isn't an option and that human milk should be more readily available for those situations. She makes the comparison that we wouldn't be happy with a blood substitute that was shown to be drastically inferior to the real thing. No. We have blood blanks. The article contends that we shouldn't be satisfied with a milk substitute as the standard either.
Posted by: tiffany | May 7, 2008 12:32 PM
Smocklady, thank you for not taking offence at my comment. Sometimes I vacillate between speaking up and keeping my mouth shut simply because the internet can be a very difficult place to communicate, not being able to gauge a person's body language, facial expressions, tone, etc.
I agree with Tiffany, it had nothing to do with negative or positive. It had to do with what is the standard and then working from there.
Saying that breastfeeding raises IQ suggests that the standard is lower. Saying that formula lowers IQ suggests that standard is higher. As I'm pretty sure everyone here agrees, breastfeeding should be the standard, with formula feeding being an unfortunate though necessary choice some women may have to opt for instead.
Posted by: Amy K. | May 7, 2008 6:47 PM
Hmmmmmm......I see why this sparks much debate and causes mommy wars.......I think that those who can breastfeed need to be supported to do so, and should be given the facts. There's still so much wrong info. floating around about b'feeding........
That said, I think that those who cannot b'feed should not freak out over this study. It sounds a bit inconclusive. There are plenty of smart and healthy bottle fed people out there......
It's tough to draw the line in knowing how to encourage those who can breastfeed, without offending those who cannot.
I think if I were unable to b'feed, I'd drop the guilt and give it to God.
Posted by: Lisa | May 7, 2008 7:45 PM
Smocklady and Alison, I am sorry I hurt your feelings with my comment. That was not my intention. I do not by any means look down upon those who, for whatever reason, are unable to breastfeed. The article I linked says what I meant a lot better (and I'm sure more kindly--I am no master of tone on the internet, I guess!). I really hesitated to post in the first place for fear of being misunderstood, but I thought it worthwhile since it seemed so relevant to Barbara's post.
Tiffany and Amy K., thanks for stepping in and clarifying!
Posted by: julianne | May 7, 2008 9:29 PM
Believe it or not, this is still news to many people in other parts of the world (my country, the Philippines, included). But we do our best to disseminate this info and promote breastfeeding!
That breastfeeding icon did win in a contest held by Mothering magazine. It's being used i)n different countries already (check the gallery in the Mothering website -- I should submit photos, too, as it's posted already in some malls here where breastfeeding stations are located.
Posted by: Sunnyday | May 8, 2008 1:36 AM
