Breastfeeding and intelligence:
Kramer MS et al found that the IQ of 17,046 children whose mothers provided exclusive breastfeeding for 3 months or longer found that these children scored higher on the IQ test than those who were not breastfed (+7.5 on a verbal IQ test, +2.9 on performance IQ test, and +5.9 for full-scale IQ). Reading and writing scores assigned by teacher evaluations were also significantly better in the breastfed group. (12)
Breastfeeding and childhood obesity:
Researchers studied children and adolescents (9-19 years of age) who were breastfed and compared them with their formula-fed siblings. A total of 976 subjects were included (488 sibling pairs). Researchers reported that breastfed siblings were significantly less likely to reach a body mass index (BMI) which categorized them as ‘overweight’ and ‘obese’ than their non-breastfed siblings. Breastfed siblings had a BMI that was 0.39 standard deviations lower then their non-breastfed sibling. In other words, an averaged height 14 year old who had been breastfed weighed an average of 13 pounds less than his formula fed sibling. (13)