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Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

bbc.com

51–60 of 107 posts

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#51
post #22

Just 2 weeks ago, I won a machine learning contest with a $20,000 prize pool where the goal was to predict the IQ of a child at age 7, based on various biological measurements and demographic indicators. The data includes whether a child was breastfed. After reading the article I did some very quick computations and my finding based on the model I developed is that children who were not breastfed have an IQ impairmen…

Looks like there are some more TopCoders here :)

I ended up 5th, and yeah - the demographic variables are by far the most importants.

As Buffett used to say - it's an 'ovarian lottery' and you better have luck at it.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#52
post #46
post #22

Just 2 weeks ago, I won a machine learning contest with a $20,000 prize pool where the goal was to predict the IQ of a child at age 7, based on various biological measurements and demographic indicators. The data includes whether a child was breastfed. After reading the article I did some very quick computations and my finding based on the model I developed is that children who were not breastfed have an IQ impairmen…

> I won a machine learning contest with a $20,000 prize pool Who organized that contest ?

The contest was hosted on TopCoder. The name of the organization who provided the data and funded it is not public, but I'm told it will be made public at some point.

http://community.topcoder.com/longcontest/?module=ViewProble...

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#53
post #5
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.

I guess it depends on the starting point. I imagine that shifting the average from 85->90 would have a much bigger effect than shifting from 105->110. Most studies seem to show a pretty sharp diminishing returns when correlating IQ points to just about any measure of 'success'.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#54
post #22

Just 2 weeks ago, I won a machine learning contest with a $20,000 prize pool where the goal was to predict the IQ of a child at age 7, based on various biological measurements and demographic indicators. The data includes whether a child was breastfed. After reading the article I did some very quick computations and my finding based on the model I developed is that children who were not breastfed have an IQ impairmen…

[deleted]

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#56
post #30
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In some cases, the pressure to breastfeed can do more harm than good. If the parent is feeling stressed, as it can be an extremely intense and also painful experience, the bonding process can suffer. More importantly, some mothers just cannot produce enough milk. The father of my adopted son forced my wife to breastfeed. Over a 3 month period, the poor boy lost a dangerous amount of weight and needed a stay in hospit…

"More importantly, some mothers just cannot produce enough milk" - Is there any anecdotal evidence to prove this. One lactation consultant told us that this claim is totally false. According to her, all women who give birth can and will produce enough breast milk and she had the evidence to prove that.

I wonder what she says to women who've had mastectomies?

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#57
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…

Your commment is excellent and deserved more than just an upvote. Thank you for writing it.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#58
post #34
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"More importantly, some mothers just cannot produce enough milk" - Is there any anecdotal evidence to prove this. One lactation consultant told us that this claim is totally false. According to her, all women who give birth can and will produce enough breast milk and she had the evidence to prove that.

My wife's mother was unable to leave hospital until my wife put on weight. My adopted son lost tonnes of weight and only gained after bottle feeding. My daughter simply could not be taken away from the breast. That was enough for me to make a decision that breastfeeding my second daughter was impractical. EDIT: I do say "produce" but it may not be as simple as that, again it's complicated. Production may not be impai…

This is precisely what the lactation consultant said. So, my wife couldn't breast feed for the first couple of months and we assumed that she couldn't produce enough milk. We went to this consultant and all she did was to change the feeding position by a small degree. After that our daughter fed happily. The problem was not with production but with the latching technique and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case with many women.

I do have a bias against bottle feeding because of our personal experience stated above.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#59
The 1-3 point IQ advantage is widely and consistently reported in the literature, and it's probably right as far as it goes. However, studies that additionally adjust for socioenvironmental factors (mothers who breastfeed are more likely to read to kids, have larger vocabularies, etc), show results around 1 IQ point: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1633786.

The "mothers should have the option" bit in the article was really off-putting. As if taking the option away was even on the table! It bears keeping in mind that the vast majority of the current adult generation was formula-fed. In 1971, only 25% of kids were breastfed in the hospital, and only 8% were still breastfeeding at 3 months.

As a metacomment, recommendations having to do with parenting are myopic. They lack any semblance of cost-benefit analysis, and the attitudes in the medical community about how women should mother date back to a time when womens' opportunity costs for labor-intensive parenting choices were nothing.

Also often ignored is how these choices affect fathers. Breastfeeding removes the father's ability to independently take care of an infant. Because feeding is a bonding experience, this creates a dynamic where the child looks at the mother as the last line in being comforted. This is a choice couples can make, but it is one that involves trade offs, which the medical community ignores. It would be one thing if they just left it to patients, neutrally presenting the data and letting parents evaluate the trade-offs. But they tend to hide the data and aggressively push their interpretation of the proper trade-offs.

Re: Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'

#60
post #22

Just 2 weeks ago, I won a machine learning contest with a $20,000 prize pool where the goal was to predict the IQ of a child at age 7, based on various biological measurements and demographic indicators. The data includes whether a child was breastfed. After reading the article I did some very quick computations and my finding based on the model I developed is that children who were not breastfed have an IQ impairmen…

Thank you for taking the time to comment about your work.

I came to comment on the headline, basically to say that "Breastfeeding 'linked to higher IQ'" sounds awfully backwards -- surely this isn't really a result "in favour of" breastfeeding, but rather pretty damning evidence against formulas/substitutes ?

I like your formulation much better:

> children who were not breastfed have an IQ impairment

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