Most women are told that children who were breast-fed as infants are usually smarter than their peers who were not.

While some might think this is a myth, new research has confirmed that this is actually so.

A team led by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford in the U.K. conducted a study that proves that breastfeeding children for longer periods could improve their performance at primary school.

The study which is published in the journal Maternal and Child Nutrition, involved 5,489 children in England.

The researchers observed that children who were breast-fed showed better academic development by the time they were five than classmates who were given formula.

They also noticed that breastfeeding was ‘linked to better achievement in all areas – but the gains were strongest in communication, language and literacy, knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development.’

The children who were breast-fed also tended to get higher scores for personal, social and emotional development, problem solving, reasoning and numeracy and creative development.

The researchers believe that essential fatty acids contained in breast milk can help cognitive development. They also suggest that babies who are not breast-fed are more prone to infections – which could slow down their development.

Overall they noticed that children breast-fed for up to two months, were 9 per cent more likely to have reached a good level of overall achievement than children who had never been breast-fed.

And those breast-fed for between two and four months were 17 per cent more likely to have a good level of overall achievement and this effect was similar in children breast-fed for more than four months.

A report on the research said:

‘The longer the children had been breast-fed, the more likely they were to have reached a good level of educational achievement at age 5 – an important predictor of later life academic and employment outcomes.’

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