Top > World > 2006 > October > 2006-10-31

Aussie Researchers Find New Breastfeeding Benefits

For those who say that ?breast is best?, new data seems to indicate that breast feeding an infant will lead to a healthier sort of mental develop as the child grows up. A study conducted over the past sixteen years in western Australia including 2,500 youths found that biological additives in breast milk contributed in some way to brain development. The chances that a child who breastfeeds for less than six months will develop mental disorders later stands at 52% at two years of age, and 55% increased risk at six years of age.

Those percentages are in comparison to children who do breastfeed for at least six months. Researchers hope that their data will lead to more mothers opting to breastfeed their children rather than formula-feed them as infants. Some babies do not react well to their mother?s milk, though, so in some cases there is no choice but to not breastfeed a child. Even so, with other factors such as socio-economic situations taken into account, the data indicates that the case can be made for breastfeeding.

It has been a matter of debate for some time as to which method of feeding a newborn is most worthwhile. The West Australian data is promising, though doctors and pediatricians will likely be demanding more tests and more observations before signing off on recommending breastfeeding over other methods.