Other factors as important as breast feeding
Dr. Cynthia Colen, a sociology professor at the Ohio State University, USA, has published a research paper which says that in the long-run breast-fed children are in no great advantage than those who were bottle-fed.
Earlier recommendations were based on research having ‘selection bias’, says Dr. Colen. It means factors like mother’s employment, age and family income skewed the statistics, because, as she says, mother’s who breastfed statistically had better education, resources and wellbeing themselves.
Dr. Colen further stated that her findings did not oppose the view that breastfeeding, in the short-term, has clear benefits for the young one. ‘I am not saying that breast-feeding is not beneficial, especially for boosting immunity and nutrition in the newborns,’ she added.
Her research only showed that it was time to focus on other factors if ‘we really want to improve maternal and child health.’
‘Let’s also focus on things that can improve maternal and child health in the long-term – like subsidized day care, better maternity leave policies, and more employment opportunities to low-income mothers that pay a living wage, for example,’ Dr. Colen said.
Dr. Colen’s research analyzed 8,237 children, 7,319 siblings and 1,773 ‘discordant’ sibling pairs in which at least one child was breast-fed and at least one other child was bottle-fed. The research was published in the journal Social Science and Medicine.
