Breastfeeding Duration and Academic Achievement at 10 Years

ARTICLES

Wendy H. Oddy, PhD^a, Jianghong Li, PhD^b, Andrew J. O. Whitehouse, PhD^a, Stephen R. Zubrick, PhD^b, Eva Malacova, PhD^a,c

^a Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; and
^b Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Centre for Developmental Health, and
^c National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between
duration of breastfeeding and educational outcomes. We hypothesized
that longer periods of breastfeeding would predict better educational
outcomes in middle childhood.

METHODS The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study used a
cohort of 2900 women who were enrolled at 18 weeks' gestation;
with 2868 live-born children were followed prospectively. At
10 years of age, data from 1038 children were linked to standardized
mathematics, reading, writing, and spelling scores. Associations
between breastfeeding duration and educational outcomes were
estimated by using linear models with adjustment for gender,
family income, maternal factors, and early stimulation at home
through reading.

RESULTS Ten-year-old children who were predominantly breastfed for 6
months or longer in infancy had higher academic scores than
children who were breastfed for less than 6 months. The effect
of breastfeeding on educational outcomes differed according
to gender; boys were particularly responsive (in mathematics,
spelling, reading, and writing) to a longer duration of breastfeeding.

CONCLUSIONS Predominant breastfeeding for 6 months or longer was positively
associated with academic achievement in children at 10 years
of age. However, the effectiveness of breastfeeding differed
according to gender; the benefits were only evident for boys.