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Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

bbc.com

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Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#11

Post by jtheory »

I'm honestly totally in favor of breast-feeding, when it's a reasonable option. I don't want anyone to avoid breast-feeding because they think (as was believed for quite a while, actually) that formula is better.

But this line from the OP slightly freaked me out -- just for acknowledging the possibility:

> But they say mothers should still have a choice about whether or not to do it.

Have they forgotten the abortion debate? There are some relevant points in there, even if formula-feeding actually cost 50 IQ points, reliably.

But it's more than just that.

Parenting is demanding and unavoidably full of compromises, for just about all parents. Most people just think in overly-simplified terms of what's "right" and "wrong" in parenting decisions, which means that the mother who can't breastfeed because she's got mastitis gets to suffer both from the pain and from guilt of imagining her child's IQ points decreasing; nice.

But really -- feeling guilty whenever you see your child is probably quite a bit worse than any harm not breast-feeding them may or may not cause.

I feel like there should be just a list of priorities, for parents to review when they're choosing their individual compromises, and at the top of the list would be "dedicate time when you're feeling well to your child". Then you can spend that time actually being supportive, kind, fair, consistent, and all of those things that go out the window when you're feeling awful.

And you may be feeling awful if you're compromised away too much of your sleep, if you're in pain, if you've faked being happy for too long, because of some article you read about something that was "right" or "wrong" for your child.

All of these other things -- like breast-feeding -- should come below that.

Kids don't want/need more time, full-stop; they want/need more time with parents who are actually doing okay.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#12

Post by trhway »

learc83 wrote: post #5
cssmoo wrote: post #4

Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK. My oldest is quite intelligent. We've had "I bet she was breast fed" more times than I can count. The reply is "no, it's a combination of genetics and nurture"...

Even the most generous estimates are that breastfeeding adds a few IQ points. Definitely not noticeable for an individual. However, at the population level, which is what the healthcare system is dealing with, that's a huge deal. Imagine if the average IQ of the entire population were shifted up by several points.

>Imagine if the average IQ of the entire population were shifted up by several points.

this is exactly what China has done during recent decades through the one child policy. And i'd say it starts to show.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#13

Post by colordrops »

aikah wrote: post #10
datashovel wrote: post #6

I definitely take studies like this with a grain of salt, though I do find them interesting. This one does appear to be from a sufficiently large sample size. Besides this, though, I find it interesting that humans feel they can sufficiently reverse engineer breast milk to replicate the health benefits. Not saying at all that eventually this won't be possible or probable. But the "original formula" has gone through a…

> I definitely take studies like this with a grain of salt as everybody should, the problem is the media publishing these stories know that the only thing people read are the headlines. > Experts say the results, while not conclusive ... The article says one thing and its opposite. The goal here isn't to inform but to distract. Absolutely no conclusion can be made out of reading this article.

What exactly is wrong with this study?

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#14

Post by datashovel »

jtheory wrote: post #11

I'm honestly totally in favor of breast-feeding, when it's a reasonable option. I don't want anyone to avoid breast-feeding because they think (as was believed for quite a while, actually) that formula is better. But this line from the OP slightly freaked me out -- just for acknowledging the possibility: > But they say mothers should still have a choice about whether or not to do it. Have they forgotten the abortion…

Guilt can certainly be an unfortunate consequence. Much like how a blind person must feel every day as they're reminded how difficult life is for those who can't see.

Empowering people with information about ways they can improve the chances their offspring will have in life is definitely the most important message I got from the article.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#15

Post by coldtea »

cssmoo wrote: post #4

Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK. My oldest is quite intelligent. We've had "I bet she was breast fed" more times than I can count. The reply is "no, it's a combination of genetics and nurture"...

>Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK.

Not sure the UK has a "smugness and superiority complex" problem. It sure has a "let's not allow anybody be different/at a higher level" problem though. Everybody is labelled "smug", "pretentious git" etc.

I mean, complaining about people breast-feeding being smug?

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#16

Post by danieltillett »

jtheory wrote: post #11

I'm honestly totally in favor of breast-feeding, when it's a reasonable option. I don't want anyone to avoid breast-feeding because they think (as was believed for quite a while, actually) that formula is better. But this line from the OP slightly freaked me out -- just for acknowledging the possibility: > But they say mothers should still have a choice about whether or not to do it. Have they forgotten the abortion…

If we want to encourage more women to breast-feed then tell them how much weight they will lose. Based on my observations breast-feeding is like having your own personal liposuction machine.

More seriously we need to help women breast-feed if they want without making them feel like failures or bad mothers if they don’t. It is a hard problem, but one that is worth trying to come up with a solution.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#17

Post by cssmoo »

coldtea wrote: post #15
cssmoo wrote: post #4

Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK. My oldest is quite intelligent. We've had "I bet she was breast fed" more times than I can count. The reply is "no, it's a combination of genetics and nurture"...

> Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK. Not sure the UK has a "smugness and superiority complex" problem. It sure has a "let's not allow anybody be different/at a higher level" problem though. Everybody is labelled "smug", "pretentious git" etc. I mean, complaining about people breast-feeding bei…

Well that's a meta argument if their ever was one and a good point.

Let me summarise at a more abstract level; people are eager to differentiate from others because to be honest we're pretty boring and uninterestif, myself included. They do this by clinging onto all sorts of irrational non-scientific beliefs. Some of these become almost ritualistic'(squirting breast milk on a child's head rather than using dentinox to cure cradle cap). Then these beliefs turn into packs and factions primarily for maintaining supposed differentials and rituals. Other people don't care (like myself) but are somewhat vexed at the suggestion our time needs to be wasted on such things at every available opportunity. This is a bad human trait that manifests itself in many ways.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#18

Post by danieltillett »

learc83 wrote: post #5
cssmoo wrote: post #4

Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK. My oldest is quite intelligent. We've had "I bet she was breast fed" more times than I can count. The reply is "no, it's a combination of genetics and nurture"...

Even the most generous estimates are that breastfeeding adds a few IQ points. Definitely not noticeable for an individual. However, at the population level, which is what the healthcare system is dealing with, that's a huge deal. Imagine if the average IQ of the entire population were shifted up by several points.

Isn’t this the effect of removing lead from the environment? People with high IQ’s don’t see the value of a few more IQ points (marginal utility), but when you have an IQ of around 80 then every point makes a huge difference.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#19

Post by cssmoo »

brogrammer90 wrote: post #9
cssmoo wrote: post #4

Maybe but it certainly is linked to epic levels of smugness and superiority complexes on the part of the parents and healthcare system. At least here in the UK. My oldest is quite intelligent. We've had "I bet she was breast fed" more times than I can count. The reply is "no, it's a combination of genetics and nurture"...

Now imagine those "genetics and nurture" AND breast feeding..

I think you misunderstand the difference between causality and correlation.

The nurture is where the causality chain starts.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#20

Post by vitobcn »

sjwright wrote: post #2

While the article does acknowledge that the study only shows correlation and not causation, it doesn't suggest what seems to me the most intuitively obvious alternative hypothesis. We know that increased rates of mental stimuli and social interaction are beneficial to a growing brain. Perhaps breastfeeding correlates with parents that have more free time to interact with their child.

The actual paper contains much more information than this BBC article. I'm not sure why they didn't link to it, but here is the original paper at the Lancet [1] as well as the full-text pdf file [2].

[1]: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-10...

[2]: http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X(...

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