AIM: To assess the effect of breastfeeding duration on school achievement in a Brazilian cohort. METHODS: In a population-based birth cohort, we analysed the highest grade achieved in school of over 2,000 male 18-y-olds relative to breastfeeding information collected in early life. Analyses were adjusted for birthweight, family income, maternal and paternal schooling, household assets, number of siblings, social class, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and ethnicity. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding variables, there was a highly significant trend in school achievement with increasing breastfeeding duration. Those breastfed for 9 mo or more were ahead by 0.5-0.8 school grades, relative to those breastfed for less than 1 mo. Data from a cross-sectional survey in the same population suggest that such a difference corresponds to a 10-15% difference in adult income levels. The duration of exclusive or predominant breastfeeding was also positively associated with schooling. CONCLUSION: Unlike studies from developed countries, there was no clear association between breastfeeding duration and either the family's socio-economic level or parental schooling in our sample and therefore residual confounding is improbable. These results suggest that the impact of breastfeeding on intellectual development may lead to sizeable differences in adult education and wage-earning performance.
AIM: To assess the effect of breastfeeding duration on school achievement in a Brazilian cohort. METHODS: In a population-based birth cohort, we analysed the highest grade achieved in school of over 2,000 male 18-y-olds relative to breastfeeding information collected in early life. Analyses were adjusted for birthweight, family income, maternal and paternal schooling, household assets, number of siblings, social class, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and ethnicity. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding variables, there was a highly significant trend in school achievement with increasing breastfeeding duration. Those breastfed for 9 mo or more were ahead by 0.5-0.8 school grades, relative to those breastfed for less than 1 mo. Data from a cross-sectional survey in the same population suggest that such a difference corresponds to a 10-15% difference in adult income levels. The duration of exclusive or predominant breastfeeding was also positively associated with schooling. CONCLUSION: Unlike studies from developed countries, there was no clear association between breastfeeding duration and either the family's socio-economic level or parental schooling in our sample and therefore residual confounding is improbable. These results suggest that the impact of breastfeeding on intellectual development may lead to sizeable differences in adult education and wage-earning performance.
Authors: Cesar G Victora; Bernardo Lessa Horta; Christian Loret de Mola; Luciana Quevedo; Ricardo Tavares Pinheiro; Denise P Gigante; Helen Gonçalves; Fernando C Barros Journal: Lancet Glob Health Date: 2015-04 Impact factor: 26.763
Authors: Bernardo Lessa Horta; Denise P Gigante; Helen Gonçalves; JanainaVieira dos Santos Motta; Christian Loret de Mola; Isabel O Oliveira; Fernando C Barros; Cesar G Victora Journal: Int J Epidemiol Date: 2015-03-02 Impact factor: 7.196
Authors: Felix A Ogbo; Kingsley Agho; Pascal Ogeleka; Sue Woolfenden; Andrew Page; John Eastwood Journal: PLoS One Date: 2017-02-13 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Cesar G Victora; Linda Adair; Caroline Fall; Pedro C Hallal; Reynaldo Martorell; Linda Richter; Harshpal Singh Sachdev Journal: Lancet Date: 2008-01-26 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Bernardo L Horta; Abet Bas; Santosh K Bhargava; Caroline H D Fall; Alan Feranil; Julia de Kadt; Reynaldo Martorell; Linda M Richter; Aryeh D Stein; Cesar G Victora Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-08-20 Impact factor: 3.240