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Breastfeeding and IQ -the Latest Data

April 20, 2017 7:00 am

A recent study (JY Bernard et al J Pediatr 2017; 183: 43-50) takes a look at the relationship between breastfeeding, specific polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels and intelligence quotient at age 5-6 years.

The authors used the French EDEN cohort with 1080 children.

Key findings:

• Breastfed children had higher IQs by 4.5 points on Wechsler Scales –though this dropped to 1.3 (not significant) when adjusted for confounders
• DHA was positively associated with higher IQ.  Children exposed to colostrum high in linoleic acid (LA)/ow in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) had lower IQs than those exposed to colostrum high in DHA/low LA

The authors speculate that one reason that supplemental DHA has not been shown to be effective could be related to a high intake of LA.

Related article: CT Collins et al. NEJM 2017; 376: 1245-55.  In this study, the authors showed that enteral supplemental of DHA (60 mg/kg) did not result in a lower risk of physiological bronchopulmonary dysplasia in a randomized trial of 1273 born before 29 weeks gestation.

Related blog posts:

• The Genius of Breastmilk
• More breastmilk, better development | gutsandgrowth
• Feeling Guilty about Stopping Breastfeeding? | gutsandgrowth
• Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, breastmilk … – gutsandgrowth
• More evidence that breastfeeding improves … – gutsandgrowth
• Bioactive Components of Breastmilk | gutsandgrowth

With a new ballpark in town, there are a lot of firsts: first HR, first hit, etc. And now this

Posted by gutsandgrowth

Categories: Nutrition

Tags: breastfeeding, breastmilk, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, IQ

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