Research claims that exclusively breastfeeding your baby for just the first week can give your child an educational head start
A big British study on breastfeeding has concluded that it has a positive effect on a child’s mental ability, from primary, right up until secondary school.
The study showed that the children who were breastfed exclusively for the first week of their life consistently outperformed those who were bottle-fed from birth. The results were concluded after 10,000 children were ‘paired up,’ matching in all major respects of life, such as social background. The only difference was whether or not they were breastfed.
The data showed that the positive effects of breastfeeding continued through from the age of five, seven, 11 and even until 14. Ms Iacovou, from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, said, “We wouldn’t have been surprised if the effect faded within time, but it didn’t.”
Britain has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world – but Ms Iacovou says that the findings from the report is “more evidence that breastfeeding is good for your baby.”
