No direct link between breastfeeding, intelligence

New York -- Breastfeeding has little impact on a child's intelligence, says a new study but adds that it is still important that newborns continue to be breastfed.

Anjali Jain and colleagues from the British Medical Research Council studied 5,475 US children and mothers. They also identified 332 sibling pairs in which one child was breastfed and the other was not, reported the online edition of science magazine WebMD.

They found a positive impact for breastfeeding on intelligence only when other potential contributors such as the mother's IQ and the parents' educational and economic status were taken into consideration.

The researchers also did not find any significant difference in intelligence among the breastfed and non-breastfed siblings.

"The mother's IQ was by far the most important variable, accounting for 70-75 percent of the difference between children who were and were not breastfed," said Geoff Der, one of the researchers.

He, however, said that these findings should not discourage mothers from breastfeeding their newborns.

"Even if it does not enhance intelligence, breastfeeding remains an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants," said Der.

Breastfeeding has been shown to lower an infant's risk of infections and is believed to help protect against allergies, diabetes, and obesity later in life.

"We would never suggest that any woman should choose not to breastfeed on the basis of our findings," Der said. "Clearly, there are many good reasons to breastfeed."