Boobs Are Good Food
But, it turns out, sucking on one as a baby won't make you smarter, writes Jeremy Laurance in the Independent:
It is one of the most hotly debated topics in pregnancy and early motherhood. Does breastfeeding really boost a baby's intelligence?Now the largest scientific study yet carried out has settled the issue. Breastfed babies are indeed smarter - because their mothers are. Mothers who breastfeed tend to be more intelligent, more highly educated and to provide more stimulation at home. The higher IQ of their babies is therefore mostly inherited, accounting for 75 per cent of the difference between them and bottle-fed babies, the researchers found.
The rest of the difference is down to the environment in which they are raised. Breastfed babies have mothers who are older and better educated, and live in nicer homes where they get more attention.
When all these factors were taken into account, breastfeeding made less than half a point's difference in the intelligence scores - laying to rest a myth that has held sway for almost 80 years.
Geoff Der, a statistician from the Medical Research Council's social and public health sciences unit at the University of Edinburgh, said: "This question has been debated ever since a link between the two was first discovered in 1929. We found 73 articles which dealt with the link."
He added: "Breastfed children do tend to score higher on intelligence tests, but they also tend to come from more advantaged backgrounds."
The study, published online by the British Medical Journal today, is based on US data on the breastfeeding history and IQs of 5,000 children and 3,000 mothers, which was not available in the UK. Mr Der concluded: "There is no reason why the same findings would not apply here."
Ahem! Now, repeat after me... Not "boobs", sugartits. SUGARTITS! SAY IT, FRENCHY!
Hasan at October 4, 2006 6:41 AM
Milk from Sugartits does enhance the immune system of the little suckers! So moms, keep on whipping those puppies out in public!
Chris at October 4, 2006 10:34 AM
53 years later and I’m still trying to improve my IQ score using the above mentioned technique. My research continues.
Roger at October 4, 2006 11:21 AM
Roger, how is your immune system?
Chris at October 4, 2006 12:02 PM
Chris,
I have terminal halitosis of the blow hole and am lactose intolerant.
Roger at October 4, 2006 12:31 PM
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