Prolonged breast-feeding may help improve a child’s behaviour during growing up, British researchers reported today.
The findings come from a major analysis of some 10,000 families in the UK.
Researchers say one likely explanation is that breast milk contains a range of growth factors, hormones and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which may play a key role in human development.
Some of these are now added to formula milk.
But a second possible explanation may simply be the close relationship that breast-feeding creates between the mother and her baby.
The children in the study were born in 2000 and have been studied at nine months and every two years up to the age of five.
Researchers sought to assess issues such as hyperactivity, poor conduct and emotional problems.
They found that 16 per cent of children who were fed formula milk showed behaviour problems – compared with six per cent of those who were breast-fed.
Maria Quigley, of Oxford University, UK, worked with researchers at the universities of Essex and York and at University College, London, on the project, reported in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
The findings were welcomed by the Royal College of Midwives.
Janet Fyle, of the college, said good parenting might be a key factor.
She said: "The weight of evidence about the benefits of breastfeeding is well established and this is a good study which adds to the evidence.
"However, it is vital that women get the help, advice and support from their midwives, particularly once they have gone home, because this is when breastfeeding rates fall."
She added: "Nevertheless, we need to be careful to keep a balance when interpreting the results, so that we do not send a negative message to mothers that they have failed or make them feel guilty because they bottle-fed their babies."
Arch Dis Child 2011; doi:10.1136/adc.2010.201970
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