TY - JOUR
T1 - Breastfeeding duration and cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age
T2 - Rhea mother-child cohort in Crete, Greece
AU - Leventakou, Vasiliki
AU - Roumeliotaki, Theano
AU - Koutra, Katerina
AU - Vassilaki, Maria
AU - Mantzouranis, Evangelia
AU - Bitsios, Panos
AU - Kogevinas, Manolis
AU - Chatzi, Leda
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Background Breast feeding duration has been associated with improved cognitive development in children. However, few population-based prospective studies have evaluated dose-response relationships of breastfeeding duration with language and motor development at early ages, and results are discrepant. Methods The study uses data from the prospective mother-child cohort ('Rhea' study) in Crete, Greece. 540 mother-child pairs were included in the present analysis. Information about parental and child characteristics and breastfeeding practices was obtained by interviewadministered questionnaires. Trained psychologists assessed cognitive, language and motor development by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Toddler Development (3rd edition) at the age of 18 months. Results Duration of breast feeding was linearly positively associated with all the Bayley scales, except of gross motor. The association persisted after adjustment for potential confounders with an increase of 0.28 points in the scale of cognitive development (β=0.28; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.55), 0.29 points in the scale of receptive communication (β=0.29; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.54), 0.30 points in the scale of expressive communication (β=0.30; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.57) and 0.29 points in the scale of fine motor development (β=0.29; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.56) per accumulated month of breast feeding. Children who were breast fed longer than 6 months had a 4.44-point increase in the scale of fine motor development (β=4.44; 95% CI 0.06 to 8.82) compared with those never breast fed. Conclusions Longer duration of breast feeding was associated with increased scores in cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age, independently from a wide range of parental and infant characteristics. Additional longitudinal studies and trials are needed to confirm these results.
AB - Background Breast feeding duration has been associated with improved cognitive development in children. However, few population-based prospective studies have evaluated dose-response relationships of breastfeeding duration with language and motor development at early ages, and results are discrepant. Methods The study uses data from the prospective mother-child cohort ('Rhea' study) in Crete, Greece. 540 mother-child pairs were included in the present analysis. Information about parental and child characteristics and breastfeeding practices was obtained by interviewadministered questionnaires. Trained psychologists assessed cognitive, language and motor development by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Toddler Development (3rd edition) at the age of 18 months. Results Duration of breast feeding was linearly positively associated with all the Bayley scales, except of gross motor. The association persisted after adjustment for potential confounders with an increase of 0.28 points in the scale of cognitive development (β=0.28; 95% CI 0.01 to 0.55), 0.29 points in the scale of receptive communication (β=0.29; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.54), 0.30 points in the scale of expressive communication (β=0.30; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.57) and 0.29 points in the scale of fine motor development (β=0.29; 95% CI 0.02 to 0.56) per accumulated month of breast feeding. Children who were breast fed longer than 6 months had a 4.44-point increase in the scale of fine motor development (β=4.44; 95% CI 0.06 to 8.82) compared with those never breast fed. Conclusions Longer duration of breast feeding was associated with increased scores in cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age, independently from a wide range of parental and infant characteristics. Additional longitudinal studies and trials are needed to confirm these results.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84924533275&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84924533275&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/jech-2013-202500
DO - 10.1136/jech-2013-202500
M3 - Article
C2 - 24336236
AN - SCOPUS:84924533275
SN - 0143-005X
VL - 69
SP - 232
EP - 239
JO - Journal of epidemiology and community health
JF - Journal of epidemiology and community health
IS - 3
ER -