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Developmental status of 1-year-old infants fed breast milk, cow's milk formula, or soy formula

Aline Andres1, Mario A Cleves, Jayne B Bellando

  • 1Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202, USA. andresaline@uams.edu

Pediatrics
|May 30, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Soy formula supports normal infant development, similar to milk-based formula. Breastfed infants showed slight advantages in cognitive development scores compared to formula-fed infants.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Infant Health

Background:

  • Concerns exist regarding soy phytochemicals' impact on infant development.
  • Soy formula is a common alternative for infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the developmental status of breastfed (BF), milk-based formula-fed (MF), and soy protein-based formula-fed (SF) infants.
  • To assess mental, motor, and language development during the first year of life.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal assessment of 391 healthy infants at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.
  • Utilized Bayley Scales of Infant Development and Preschool Language Scale-3.
  • Employed mixed effects models with adjustments for multiple confounding factors.

Main Results:

  • No significant developmental differences were observed between MF and SF infants.
  • BF infants demonstrated slightly higher Mental Developmental Index (MDI) scores at 6 and 12 months compared to formula-fed groups.
  • BF infants showed higher Psychomotor Development Index scores than SF infants at 6 months and higher language scores than MF infants at 3 and 6 months.

Conclusions:

  • All infant groups (BF, MF, SF) exhibited developmental scores within normal ranges.
  • Soy formula and milk-based formula support comparable infant development.
  • Breastfeeding showed a slight cognitive development advantage over formula feeding.
Abstract

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