Breastfeeding and brighter babies

Scientists have already found a number of benefits to breastfeeding one's babies and a new study by researchers at Oxford University and the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University has found that an increase in children's intelligence could be another. The researchers studied more than 10,000 children from the Bristol area and found that those who were breastfed for at least the first four weeks of life performed better, by an average of three to five points, on IQ tests at five, seven, 11 and 14. The researchers thought that the difference could be due to either long-chain fatty acids in breast milk which help the brain to develop or to the stronger mother-child relationship formed during breastfeeding.