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Exclusive Breastfeeding Predicts Higher Hearing-Language Development in Girls of Preschool Age

Maria Angela Guzzardi1, Federico Granziera1, Elena Sanguinetti1

  • 1Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council (CNR), 56124 Pisa, Italy.

Nutrients
|August 5, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Exclusive breastfeeding benefits girls' cognitive development, particularly hearing and language skills by age five. This early nutrition may offer protective effects against cognitive disorders later in life.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Cognitive disorders are rising, with early life stressors and female sex as risk factors.
  • Breastfeeding's impact on neurocognitive development is debated.
  • Early life nutrition is crucial for brain development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between exclusive breastfeeding and cognitive development in children up to five years old.
  • To examine potential sex differences in this association.
  • To identify if early breastfeeding duration influences cognitive outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Studied 80 mother-child pairs from the Pisa birth cohort (PISAC).
  • Assessed cognitive development using Griffiths Mental Development Scales at multiple ages (6-60 months).
  • Collected data on maternal intelligence quotient (IQ), anthropometrics, and infant parameters.

Main Results:

  • Exclusive breastfeeding correlated with enhanced hearing-language development in five-year-old girls.
  • This association was independent of maternal IQ, age, and BMI (body mass index).
  • Exclusive breastfeeding within the first three months appeared sufficient for this benefit.

Conclusions:

  • Exclusive breastfeeding is a positive predictor of cognitive development in preschool-aged girls.
  • Findings support sex-specific strategies for cognitive disease risk detection and prevention.
  • Further research is needed to confirm causality and long-term effects.

Keywords:
breastfeedingcognitive developmentmaternal obesity

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