London - Breastfeeding can make boys - but not girls - brainier, research shows.
A study of ten-year-olds found that breastfed boys were better at maths, reading, writing and spelling than those who were bottle-fed.
But breast milk did not appear to have the same brain-boosting effect on girls.
While previous research has credited breastfeeding with boosting IQ, this study is the first to show that one sex benefits more than the other.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia’s Telethon Institute for Child Health Research looked at how well 1,038 boys and girls did on standard school tests given at the age of ten.
The analysis took into account social class, the mother’s level of education and the amount of time spent reading to the child. As in UK schools, the girls generally did better than the boys.
But those boys who had been breastfed for at least six months achieved maths and writing scores around nine percent higher than those who had been bottle-fed. They also got higher marks on spelling and reading, the journal Pediatrics reports.
In some cases, the improvement was large enough to close the achievement gap between girls and boys.
Any improvement to the girls’ scores was so marginal that it was insignificant.
Breast milk is known to be rich in fatty acids key to brain cell development but the researchers are unsure why it appeared to give only boys a mental boost.
It may be that the girls’ brains are already receiving nourishment from the sex hormone oestrogen, and the healthy fats in mother’s milk help the male brain catch up.Another possibility is that breastfeeding strengthens the mother-child bond.
Studies show that a mother’s attention is more crucial for the mental development of boys than girls. The Department of Health tells mothers that feeding their babies on breast milk alone for the first six months will protect their baby against obesity, eczema and ear, chest and stomach infections.
New mothers are also told that avoiding formula milk will cut the odds of a child being a fussy eater in later life, as well as reduce the woman’s odds of some cancers and help with weight loss.
Some studies have made a link between breastfeeding and a raised IQ, but others have argued that this can be explained largely by better-educated women being more likely to breastfeed.
Professor Wendy Oddy from the research team said the many health benefits of breast milk make it the best option for both sexes.
Michael Kramer, a paediatrician who has advised Unicef on breastfeeding, said he believes it does boost IQ.
Dr Kramer said some claims about breastfeeding’s benefits were exaggerated, but added that the evidence relating to IQ and lung and stomach infections is so strong that it alone warrants the promotion of breast as best. - Daily Mail