Breastfeeding research shows lowered conduct disorders in older children

Children who have been exclusively breastfed perform better in some behaviour tests when they are older than those who have not, new research shows.

The study by an international team including Dr Brian Houle from the ANU School of Demography also found cognitive and executive function benefits among children who attended crèche or were stimulated through games and play.

Although there’s clear evidence of how breast-feeding benefits children early in life, evidence on how it affects their development later in life has been mixed, Dr Houle says.

“We found that being exclusively breast-fed for the recommended six months led to lower likelihood of conduct disorders in children, compared to children who were exclusively breast-fed for less than one month,” he explains.

“We didn’t find an association between exclusive breast-feeding and later cognition – there’s been mixed evidence on whether that would be the case or not.”

“One of the strengths of this study, I think, is not only does it have this detailed early growth data, but it also has a number of controls, like mother’s cognitive ability, which a lot of other studies don’t have.”        

Some 1,500 children aged seven to 11 in a rural community in South Africa were surveyed, about 900 of whom featured in an early infant breastfeeding study. Dr Houle, who has extensive experience in South Africa and with the research team, performed the study’s analysis and says the sample size was larger than most other studies.

The children’s weight was measured, as were factors including their ability to focus and make decisions and juggle multiple tasks at once.

Nestled into one of the team’s earlier studies, the children’s mothers’ cognitive ability was also assessed.

“This was an intervention to encourage breastfeeding among women, so it was counsellor-based and they have very detailed daily breastfeeding data on these children,” he says.

“Most other studies are asking women to recall their breastfeeding schedule.”

Other factors which affected children’s cognitive development included whether they attended crèche, a type of pre-school,” Dr Houle says.

“We also found children who were stimulated at home through play and different factors were more likely to have higher executive function scores.”

The team’s study adds to existing evidence about the longer-term effects of breast-feeding, particularly in a limited resource setting.

“While much of the other research has been conducted in the developed world, this is a population with really high poverty levels,” Dr Houle says.

The study, led by Dr Ruth M Bland from the Africa Centre for Population Health, has been published in PLOS Medicine.