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Updated: Feb 20, 2026

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Breastfeeding moderates the association between family socioeconomic status and child behavior scores

Sarah E Turner1,2,3, Leslie Roos4,5, Nathan C Nickel1,2,3,4,6

  • 1Manitoba Interdisciplinary Lactation Centre (MILC), Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Frontiers in Public Health
|February 19, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Breastfeeding may reduce behavior problems in children from low socioeconomic status (SES) environments. Longer, exclusive breastfeeding is linked to better child behavior scores, narrowing the SES gap.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Children in low socioeconomic status (SES) environments face higher risks of behavior problems.
  • Breastfeeding is associated with positive mental health outcomes in children.
  • Socioeconomic disparities in child behavior are a significant public health concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if breastfeeding modifies the association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and child behavior problems.
  • To examine the impact of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity on behavior scores in children from varying SES backgrounds.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a subset of the Canadian CHILD cohort (N=2,342).
  • Low SES defined by income, single parenthood, or maternal education.
  • Child Behavior Checklist administered at 5 years; breastfeeding data collected up to 2 years.

Main Results:

  • Lower SES correlated with higher (worse) total behavior scores.
  • Longer and more exclusive breastfeeding associated with lower (better) behavior scores.
  • Significant interactions showed breastfeeding narrows the SES gap in internalizing and total behavior scores.

Conclusions:

  • Breastfeeding may mitigate socioeconomic inequities in child behavior.
  • Exclusive and longer breastfeeding duration are protective factors for child behavior.
  • Findings highlight breastfeeding as a potential intervention to reduce disparities in child development.
Abstract

Keywords:
Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)breastfeedingcohortfamily socioeconomic statusinteraction

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