Breastfeeding for longer linked to better exam results

Children who are breastfed for at least 12 months are more likely to achieve top grades in future examinations, according to a new study by researchers at Oxford University.

While many parents will “enlist tutors, pay for private education or search for a home in a desirable catchment area” in the quest to secure their children “straight As”, said The Daily Telegraph, the “seeds of academic success” could be sown much earlier.

The study, published in the Archives of Diseases in Childhood journal, examined the association between breastfeeding duration and education achievement in England, for a cohort of almost 5,000 children born between 2000 and 2002.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The conclusion was that a “longer breastfeeding duration was associated with modest improvements in educational outcomes at age 16”. This was after controlling for “important confounders”.

Children breastfed for 12 months were three times more likely to achieve a grade worth an A or A* in GCSE maths and English, researchers found. Those breastfed for at least four months were approximately 12% more likely than non-breastfed children to pass at least five GCSEs, including English and maths, with the equivalent of a low B or a high C grade.

“Breast milk contains important polyunsaturated fatty acids,” the Daily Mail said, “which are believed to boost brain development.” For this reason, new mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their children for at least six months, according to the NHS, before continuing “for 2 years and beyond, alongside eating other foods”.

The Independent also highlighted other reported benefits of breastfeeding, suggesting it can protect babies from “diseases and infections”, as well as helping to prevent “breast and ovarian cancer” in mothers.

However, the study should not worry mothers who do not breastfeed. Dr Reneé Pereyra-Elías, who led the new research, stated that the difference was “modest” when it came to test scores, CNN reported

“It isn’t possible for every family to breastfeed, and those who don’t should not be shamed or feel guilty that they might be putting their children at a disadvantage,” he said.