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Breastfeeding and the child cognitive outcomes: a propensity score matching approach

Miao Jiang1, E Michael Foster, Christina M Gibson-Davis

  • 1Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Rosenau Hall, CB# 7445, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7445, USA. mjiang@unc.edu

Maternal and Child Health Journal
|September 18, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Breastfeeding initiation shows small, significant effects on child development. Breastfeeding duration

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Pediatrics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Breastfeeding is widely recommended for child health.
  • Its impact on cognitive development requires further investigation.
  • Understanding these effects is crucial for public health initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the impact of breastfeeding initiation and duration on child development outcomes.
  • To analyze cognitive outcomes using standardized tests.
  • To control for various confounding factors.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 3,271 children and mothers in the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.
  • Employed propensity score matching with multiple imputations to adjust for confounding variables.
  • Assessed cognitive development via Woodcock Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised (WJ-R) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) scores.

Main Results:

  • Breastfeeding initiation demonstrated statistically significant, though small, effects on cognitive outcomes.
  • Breastfeeding duration exhibited non-linear effects, with most not reaching statistical significance.
  • Controlled analyses indicated modest practical impacts of breastfeeding on cognitive scores.

Conclusions:

  • While breastfeeding initiation has a measurable effect, its practical significance on cognitive development is limited.
  • The non-linear effects of duration suggest potential selection bias.
  • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the relationship between breastfeeding and cognitive outcomes.

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