A recent study in the United Kingdom concludes that Children who have taken breast milk for at least four months may have better behavior when they are older than those who drink artificial milk.
For the study, carried out by researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Essex, York and the University College of London, 10,037 mothers and children participated, of which 512 were premature. 29% of those born at term and 21% of premature babies were breastfed for four or more months (quite poor figure, in fact).
The researchers decided to mark the five years as the opportune moment to know what kind of behavior the children had and, from there, to know what incidence it could have had having been or not breastfed.
Results of the study
A questionnaire was made to all children and it was observed that, at five years old, 16% of children who drank artificial milk had behavioral problems, compared to 6% of those who drank breast milk until at least four months of age.
The researchers defined "behavioral problems" to attitudes such as being more liars, having more anxiety or hyperactivity and having a worse relationship with parents.
As they commented, the results were independent of the mother's age and the socioeconomic status of the families.
What is the hypothesis that explains it?
When explaining the reasons for these differences, the assumptions of the benefits of fatty acids from breast milk and of link that is usually established between mother and child when breastfeeding.
Logically, and as we say, they are only hypotheses, since the cause is not clear, but according to the researchers:
Breast milk contains many amounts of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, growth factors and hormones that play an important role in the development of the brain and central nervous system.
These differences could diminish from now on, since the adapted infant formulas have begun to be supplemented recently with some of the fatty acids present in the breast milk. I say "could" because despite that The effects of this supplementation are not yet known, nor will it really be a benefit for babies (As I have been able to read in some publication the DHA that is added to the formula milks seems not to act the same as the DHA that contains breast milk, but since I cannot quote the reference, I do not remember it, do not pay me much attention) .
They also said the following about the link:
The act of breastfeeding creates a special relationship between the mother and her baby, greater interaction between them that can influence the child's subsequent attitude.
About this, well to know ... in my opinion four months of breastfeeding are few to establish differences in relation to the link. I would believe it more if babies with prolonged breastfeeding had been compared, say more than a year, compared to babies who only drank artificial milk.
In any case, and in conclusion, just comment that this is the kind of studies that leave you a little with the "And?". Babies who drink breast milk seem to have better behavior. This is an important finding and I am personally happy if it is true, because that way I have one more reason to try to help mothers who want to breastfeed, but after breastfeeding there should be a later one that will help children to have that good behavior, and that later is a society where children have a placewhere parents can have time to take care of them, where parents know how to respect them and know how to teach them to respect others, where children do not have to have hours from sun to sun with almost compulsory extracurriculars, not because children like them, but because nobody can go looking for them and where the children don't feel alone and misunderstood many times.
Breast milk can be important for the behavior of children as a base, I will not say no, but if it does not accompany everything described, they take us confessed (I feel close to Revelation ... maybe I have been watching teenagers in my office for too many days) ).
Finally, I leave you with a summary of the video news, which we have seen on BBC Mundo:
