Abstract

PEREZ RUIZ, Juan Manuel; MIRANDA LEON, María Teresa; PEINADO HERREROS, José María  and  IRIBAR IBABE, María Concepción. Breastfeeding and its influence into the cognitive process of Spanish school-children (6 years old), measured by the Wechsler intelligence scale. ALAN [online]. 2013, vol.63, n.3, pp.218-223. ISSN 0004-0622.

Some scientific evidence support that a better cognitive development during the school age is related with breastfeeding. In this study, the potential benefit of breastfeeding duration is evaluated, related to Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory and Processing Speed. A total of 103 children, first year of Primary School, six-year-old, (47 boys and 56 girls), were included from different schools in the province of Granada (Spain) at urban, semi-urban and rural areas. The global cognitive capability, as well as some specific intelligence domains which permit a more precise and deeper analysis of the cognitive processes, was evaluated through the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - version IV. The results prove an association, statistically signnificative, between the best values of IQ and the other four WISC-IV indexes and a longer breastfeeding. There is a highly significant (p=0,000) association between the best scores and those children who were breastfed during 6 months, which validates our hypothesis. The advice of breastfeeding during at least the first six months of life should be reinforced to reduce learning difficulties.

Keywords : Breastfeeding; Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; schoolchildren; intellectual quotient; cognitive development; difficulties of learning.

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