By Megan Rauscher
Breastfeeding may have a positive influence on behaviour in early childhood, according to results of a study presented at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in San Diego.
In the study, parents of one- to five-year-old children who were breastfed as infants were 15 percent less likely to report concern for the child's behaviour than parents of children who were not breastfed.
In addition, breastfed children were 37 percent less likely to have doctor-diagnosed behaviour or conduct problems or to have received mental health care.
The findings - based on more than 100 000 interviews with parents or guardians on the health of their children conducted as part of the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health - also support studies that have showed that breastfeeding enhances intellectual ability in children.
Specifically, parents of breastfed children were 23 percent less apt to report concern about their child's ability to learn, according to study presenter and lead researcher Dr. Katherine Hobbs Knutson from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
"Although correlations between breastfeeding and childhood cognition are well supported by research, our findings provide new evidence for a lesser understood issue of whether breastfeeding may also influence childhood emotional development," Knutson told Reuters Health.
"Our research is promising, indicating that human milk may be protective against childhood behavioural disorders," she concluded.