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Study reveals link between breastfeeding and child IQ
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 06 November 2007
Babies who are breastfed stand a better chance of becoming intelligent children if they also inherit a version of a gene that is involved in the growth of the brain, researchers have found.
Two large studies of breastfed children confirm that mother’s milk does indeed raise IQ in later life – if combined with a gene involved in the metabolism of fatty acids.
Scientists believe the discovery blows a hole in the “nature versus nurture” debate, as it shows that there is a hitherto unconfirmed interaction between our environment and the genes involved in brain development.
Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi, the husband-and-wife team who carried out the work at King’s College London, found that the IQ advantage for breastfed children was only true if they had inherited the “C” version of a gene known as FADS2, which handles fatty acids in the diet. Breast milk is known to be rich in fatty acids, and these compounds are also thought to be important in certain aspects of brain development, such as the growth |of nerve endings and the production of neurotransmitters – chemical messengers in the brain.
It was already accepted that breastfeeding increases a child’s IQ significantly, but some critics of earlier research pointed out that in the West this may be because higher social classes tend both to breastfeed their children and spend more money on their education than lower social classes. The latest study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claims to have eliminated these |potentially confounding |social factors.
“Our findings support the idea that the nutritional content of breast milk accounts for the differences seen in human IQ. But it’s not a simple connection: it depends to some extent on the genetic make-up of each infant,” Professor Moffitt said. “The argument about intelligence has been about nature versus nurture for at least a century. We’re finding that nature and nurture work together.”
About 90 per cent of the population have the “C” version of the FADS2 gene, so most babies could potentially benefit from breastfeeding in terms of a raised IQ.
A study has also shown that breastfed babies have a lower risk of developing heart disease. Scientists told the American Heart Association that breastfeeding is linked with lower weight and higher “good” cholesterol levels in adulthood.
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 06 November 2007
Babies who are breastfed stand a better chance of becoming intelligent children if they also inherit a version of a gene that is involved in the growth of the brain, researchers have found.
Two large studies of breastfed children confirm that mother’s milk does indeed raise IQ in later life – if combined with a gene involved in the metabolism of fatty acids.
Scientists believe the discovery blows a hole in the “nature versus nurture” debate, as it shows that there is a hitherto unconfirmed interaction between our environment and the genes involved in brain development.
Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi, the husband-and-wife team who carried out the work at King’s College London, found that the IQ advantage for breastfed children was only true if they had inherited the “C” version of a gene known as FADS2, which handles fatty acids in the diet. Breast milk is known to be rich in fatty acids, and these compounds are also thought to be important in certain aspects of brain development, such as the growth |of nerve endings and the production of neurotransmitters – chemical messengers in the brain.
It was already accepted that breastfeeding increases a child’s IQ significantly, but some critics of earlier research pointed out that in the West this may be because higher social classes tend both to breastfeed their children and spend more money on their education than lower social classes. The latest study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claims to have eliminated these |potentially confounding |social factors.
“Our findings support the idea that the nutritional content of breast milk accounts for the differences seen in human IQ. But it’s not a simple connection: it depends to some extent on the genetic make-up of each infant,” Professor Moffitt said. “The argument about intelligence has been about nature versus nurture for at least a century. We’re finding that nature and nurture work together.”
About 90 per cent of the population have the “C” version of the FADS2 gene, so most babies could potentially benefit from breastfeeding in terms of a raised IQ.
A study has also shown that breastfed babies have a lower risk of developing heart disease. Scientists told the American Heart Association that breastfeeding is linked with lower weight and higher “good” cholesterol levels in adulthood.
Sursa: http://news.independ...icle3132481.ece
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Breastfeeding can cut risk of heart disease, say researchers
· Cholesterol and body mass index benefits found
· IQ can also be boosted, separate study suggests
Scientists have shown that breastfeeding lowers the risk of heart disease in adulthood and, in a separate study, have shown that it could also help raise IQ.
Nisha Parikh of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, found that people who had been breastfed showed lower than average body mass index and higher than average levels of the so-called "good" HDL cholesterol in adulthood. Both of these factors protect against cardiovascular disease.
She studied 393 mothers and 962 of their middle-aged children and, after adjusting for factors that could have confounded the results - such as use of medication and the mother's smoking habits and weight - found that breastfed children had an HDL level of 56.6mg a decilitre, compared with 53.7mg for bottle-fed participants.
The breastfed offspring also had a lower average body mass index (BMI) in adulthood: 26.1 compared with 26.9 for bottle-fed infants.
Dr Parikh, who presented her results yesterday at the American Heart Association's meeting in Orlando, said: "Even a modest reduction in BMI leads to a significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related death."
Meanwhile, scientists at the King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry studied the effect of breastfeeding on IQ. By looking at more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand they found that it raised intelligence by an average of seven IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2.
This gene comes in two versions, C and G; 90% of the children in the study had at least one copy of the C version of FADS2, and had a higher IQ if they were breastfed. The remainder had only the G version of the gene and showed no IQ change from breastfeeding. The results were published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Our findings support the idea that the nutritional content of breast milk accounts for the differences seen in human IQ," said Terrie Moffitt of King's College. "But it depends to some extent on the genetic makeup of each infant."
· Cholesterol and body mass index benefits found
· IQ can also be boosted, separate study suggests
Scientists have shown that breastfeeding lowers the risk of heart disease in adulthood and, in a separate study, have shown that it could also help raise IQ.
Nisha Parikh of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, found that people who had been breastfed showed lower than average body mass index and higher than average levels of the so-called "good" HDL cholesterol in adulthood. Both of these factors protect against cardiovascular disease.
She studied 393 mothers and 962 of their middle-aged children and, after adjusting for factors that could have confounded the results - such as use of medication and the mother's smoking habits and weight - found that breastfed children had an HDL level of 56.6mg a decilitre, compared with 53.7mg for bottle-fed participants.
The breastfed offspring also had a lower average body mass index (BMI) in adulthood: 26.1 compared with 26.9 for bottle-fed infants.
Dr Parikh, who presented her results yesterday at the American Heart Association's meeting in Orlando, said: "Even a modest reduction in BMI leads to a significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related death."
Meanwhile, scientists at the King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry studied the effect of breastfeeding on IQ. By looking at more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand they found that it raised intelligence by an average of seven IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2.
This gene comes in two versions, C and G; 90% of the children in the study had at least one copy of the C version of FADS2, and had a higher IQ if they were breastfed. The remainder had only the G version of the gene and showed no IQ change from breastfeeding. The results were published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Our findings support the idea that the nutritional content of breast milk accounts for the differences seen in human IQ," said Terrie Moffitt of King's College. "But it depends to some extent on the genetic makeup of each infant."
Mai pe scurt, pentru cei care nu vor sa citeasca tot, alaptati pe cat puteti ca e bine!!!
Reduce riscul de boli cardiovasculare si ii mereste IQ-ul!!!
Cel putin asa zic oamenii astia care (se presupune) ca stiu despre ce vorbesc!
