Breastfeeding Helps Prevent ADHD

Breastfeeding protects against Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a latest research suggests.

Tel Aviv University researchers studied breastfeeding habits of a group of mothers. They divided the participants into three groups; one with children diagnosed with ADHD, their siblings and parents of those without the condition.

The researchers found an association with the rate of breastfeeding  and risk of developing ADHD. Children of age three-months who were fed through bottles were three times more likely to have ADHD than those who were breastfed for the same period, the study authors noted.

Around 43 percent of children with ADHD were breastfed compared to 69 percent of their siblings and 73 percent of those without ADHD. Further, after six months, the study results showed that only 29 percent of ADHD children were breastfed as opposed to 50 percent of their siblings and 57 percent of control group.

For the research, led by Dr Aviva Mimouni-Bloch of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and Head of the Child Neurodevelopmental Center in Lowenstein Hospital, parents were questioned on their medical and demographic history. This was later used to study the effect of development of ADHD in children. Parents were also asked to give details of pregnancy-related issues such as hypertension or diabetes, birth weight of the baby and genetic links to ADHD.

Dr Mimouni-Bloch said that the important feature of the study was that they also included the sibling group. They concluded that different behavior of children might make mothers difficult to breastfeed one child than the other.