Breastfeeding linked to better grades

PERTH, Australia, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Breastfeeding for six months or longer is linked to better grades at age 10, but only in boys, Australian researchers say.

Wendy H. Oddy and Andrew J.O. Whitehouse of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia; and Jianghong Li and Stephen R. Zubrick of the Curtin Health Renovation Research Institute and Eva Malacova and National Drug Research Institute hypothesized longer periods of breastfeeding would predict better educational outcomes in middle childhood.

The researchers say the study involved 2,900 women who were enrolled in the study at 18 weeks' gestation and the 2,868 children born live were tracked for 10 years. At 10 years of age, 1,038 children were linked to standardized mathematics, reading, writing and spelling test scores.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, finds children breastfed for six months or longer were positively associated with academic achievement at age10, but the benefits were only evident in boys. This was true after factoring in for family income, maternal factors and early stimulation at home through reading.