More details about effect of breastfeeding on IQ

Many studies have been done about the influence of breastfeeding on the IQ. Among others, a study was also cone by English scientists. They analysed data of over 3000 children from New Zealand and Great Britain at the age of 5 to 13 years of age. Breastfeeding is supposed to have a positive influence on the development of the child’s brains due to the presence of two unsaturated fatty acids (DHA - docosahexanoic acid, and AA - arachidonic acid), which are present only in the mother's milk and not in the cow's milk or in powdered milk. At the time of breastfeeding; the mentioned fatty acids are accumulated in the brain, and therefore stimulate the children's memory, their ability to learn and solve problems, factors which are evident later in adulthood. But the study has shown that breastfeeding has no influence on the increase in the IQ in the case of all children. The reason for this was found in the FADS2 gene, a part of our hereditary record that we carry in all cells of our body, and its several possible forms.

These possible forms of the gene are alleles, which can be presented in a very simplified way as combinations of the letters AA, AG or GG. Children, who have the “A” allele (over 90% of all children) and are breastfed by their mothers, can develop a higher IQ according to the results of studies. If children do not have this type of gene, breastfeeding is supposed not to have any influence on their intelligence. Scientists have at the same time excluded the possible influence of a mother’s genotype on the effect that breastfeeding has on a child as well as the socio-economic situation of the breastfeeding mother (namely, initially they searched for the connection between a higher IQ of children and wealthier situation of their family). Why should a certain type of the FADS2 gene have a positive influence on the development of the brain and consequently on a higher IQ, is still not completely clear. But scientists presume that among other things, the unsaturated fatty acids DHA and AA in mother’s milk are supposed to influence the expression of genes of certain biosynthetic pathways that influence the development of the brain.

In order to make the connection between breastfeeding and a higher IQ of breastfed children completely clear, additional scientific studies are required. But with regard to the results obtained so far, we can nevertheless conclude that breastfeeding significantly contributes to better cognitive development and it can influence the increase in the IQ of those children who have the corresponding type of the FADS2 gene.

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