A new study from the University of Bergen shows, published in Biological Psychiatry an association between breastfeeding up to six months of age and a reduced risk of ADHD symptoms from ages three to eight.
The study used data from 37,600 families participating in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
Mothers reported, through a questionnaire six months after birth, the duration of exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding, and the introduction of other liquids or solid foods. These data were used to calculate the number of months each child was exclusively breastfed.
“We found that the longer a child was exclusively breastfed (up to six months), the lower the level of ADHD symptoms at ages three, five, and eight years,” says Solberg.
The association was observed in both boys and girls and was strongest at ages three and five, and somewhat weaker at age eight. All breastfeeding showed an effect, but the effect increased with the duration and intensity of breastfeeding and was strongest with exclusive breastfeeding up to six months.
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