Dataset Information

Association between breastfeeding and intelligence, educational attainment, and income at 30 years of age: a prospective birth cohort study from Brazil.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Breastfeeding has clear short-term benefits, but its long-term consequences on human capital are yet to be established. We aimed to assess whether breastfeeding duration was associated with intelligence quotient (IQ), years of schooling, and income at the age of 30 years, in a setting where no strong social patterning of breastfeeding exists.

Methods

A prospective, population-based birth cohort study of neonates was launched in 1982 in Pelotas, Brazil. Information about breastfeeding was recorded in early childhood. At 30 years of age, we studied the IQ (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd version), educational attainment, and income of the participants. For the analyses, we used multiple linear regression with adjustment for ten confounding variables and the G-formula.

Findings

From June 4, 2012, to Feb 28, 2013, of the 5914 neonates enrolled, information about IQ and breastfeeding duration was available for 3493 participants. In the crude and adjusted analyses, the durations of total breastfeeding and predominant breastfeeding (breastfeeding as the main form of nutrition with some other foods) were positively associated with IQ, educational attainment, and income. We identified dose-response associations with breastfeeding duration for IQ and educational attainment. In the confounder-adjusted analysis, participants who were breastfed for 12 months or more had higher IQ scores (difference of 3·76 points, 95% CI 2·20-5·33), more years of education (0·91 years, 0·42-1·40), and higher monthly incomes (341·0 Brazilian reals, 93·8-588·3) than did those who were breastfed for less than 1 month. The results of our mediation analysis suggested that IQ was responsible for 72% of the effect on income.

Interpretation

Breastfeeding is associated with improved performance in intelligence tests 30 years later, and might have an important effect in real life, by increasing educational attainment and income in adulthood.

Funding

Wellcome Trust, International Development Research Center (Canada), CNPq, FAPERGS, and the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

SUBMITTER: Victora CG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4365917 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundWe aimed to investigate the association between preterm birth and body composition at 6, 18, and 30 years of age using data from three population-based birth cohort studies.MethodsGestational age (GA), defined by the date of the last menstrual period (categorized in ≤33, 34-36, and ≥ 37 weeks), was gathered in the first 24-h after delivery for all live births occurring in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, in 2004, 1993 and 1982. Body composition was assessed by air-displacement plethysmography. Outcomes included fat mass (FM, kg), percent FM (%FM), FM index (FMI, kg/m2), fat-free mass (FFM, kg); percent FFM (%FFM), FFM index (FFMI, kg/m2), body mass index (BMI, kg/m2 at 18 years in the 1993 cohort and 30 years in the 1982 cohort), and BMI Z-score (at 6 years in the 2004 cohort). We further explored the association of birth weight for GA with body composition indicators and BMI. Crude and adjusted linear regressions provided beta coefficients with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).ResultsA total of 3036, 3027, and 3369 participants, respectively, from the 2004, 1993, and 1982 cohorts were analyzed. At 6 years, preterm boys (born at 34-36 weeks) presented lower adjusted mean of FM (β = - 0.80 kg, - 1.45;-0.16, p = 0.046), %FM (β = - 2.39%, - 3.90;-0.88, p = 0.008), FMI (β = - 0.70 kg/m2, - 1.13;-0.27, p = 0.004) as well as lower FFM (β = - 0.4 kg, - 0.77; - 0.12, p = 0.010) and FFMI (β = - 0.3 kg/m2, - 0.46;-0.10, p < 0.001), and BMI Z-score (β = - 0.69,; - 0.99;-0.40, p < 0.001); but higher %FFM (β = 2.4%, 0.87;-3.90, p = 0.008), when compared to boys born at term (≥37). At 30 years, FM (15.7 kg, 0.25;31.1, p = 0.102) was higher among males born at ≤33 weeks. No association was observed for females from the three cohorts and for 18-year-old males. The association of birth weight for GA with body composition and BMI was not significant in any cohort. At 6 years, SGA boys had lower FFMI than boys AGA.ConclusionsOur results suggest that preterm birth is associated with decreased body fat and fat-free mass in childhood but higher fat mass in adulthood. Nevertheless, results were only significant for males. SGA boys also showed lower FFMI.