Infant feeding practice and childhood cognitive performance in South India

Abstract

Aim Several studies have suggested a beneficial effect of infant breastfeeding on childhood cognitive function. The main objective was to examine whether duration of breastfeeding and age at introduction of complementary foods are related to cognitive performance in 9- to 10-year-old school-aged children in South India. Methods The authors examined 514 children from the Mysore Parthenon birth cohort for whom breastfeeding duration (six categories from Results All the children were initially breastfed. The mode for duration of breastfeeding was 12–17 months (45.7%) and for age at introduction of complementary foods 4 months (37.1%). There were no associations between longer duration of breastfeeding, or age of introduction of complementary foods, and cognitive function at 9–10 years, either unadjusted or after adjustment for age, sex, gestation, birth size, maternal age, parity, socio-economic status, parents' attained schooling and rural/urban residence. Conclusions Within this cohort, in which prolonged breastfeeding was the norm (90% breastfed ≥6 months and 65% breastfed for ≥12 months), there was no evidence suggesting a beneficial effect of longer duration of breastfeeding on later cognitive ability.