UK researchers have found that breastfeeding children confers greater upward social mobility in adulthood than bottle feeding. And the link was still significant when other childhood factors normally used to predict social mobility were taken into account.

The 60 year follow up study is published in the online edition of the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Researchers from the University of Bristol sent follow up questionnaires to 3,182 participants of the Boyd Orr Survey of Diet and Health in Pre-War Britain (1937-39), who are now in their 60s and 70s.

The participants lived in 16 urban and rural districts of England and Scotland, and 44 per cent of them (1,414) responded.

The data included measures of breastfeeding in childhood, survey district, household income, expenditure on food, numbers of brothers and/or sisters, birth order, and social class.

The results showed that breastfeeding prevalence ranged from 45 per cent to 85 per cent and while it varied by survey district, there were no strong links to any of the other childhood factors.

However, when the researchers looked for correlations with present day social class, they found that respondents that had been breastfed as babies were 41 per cent more likely to have moved from a lower to a higher social class than those who were bottle fed.

Also, using multivariate regression analysis, they found that the longer the children were breastfed, the more likely they were to have moved up a class in adulthood.

The strength of the link did not change when the other childhood factors were taken into account.

However, the link was much weaker in families with an uneven breastfeeding regime, where some children were breast fed and others were not.

The researchers also pointed to the possibility that there may be unidentified residual effects.

Other studies have suggested that breastfeeding increases long term health, height and IQ. The researchers say that this study is relevant to children today because it gives indirect support to these suggestions.

They pointed out though that this study was not conclusive and could be showing that breastfeeding is just a marker for other factors that lead to upward social mobility.

They said further studies would be needed to show conclusively that breastfeeding is a direct causal factor in later upward social mobility.

The consensus of medical advice, including that of the World Health Organization, is that breastfeeding is the best nutrition for babies up to 6 months old, and it should continue if possible up to 12 months.

However, all sensible doctors, midwives and other health practitioners also acknowledge the importance of the mother-baby bond. If attempts to breastfeed do not succeed, or it is just not possible for other reasons, then get advice on the best infant formula alternative and don’t let worrying about it get in the way of developing a loving relationship with your baby.

“Breastfeeding in infancy and social mobility: 60 year follow-up of the Boyd Orr cohort.”
Richard Michael Martin, Sarah Goodhall, David J Gunnell, and George Davey Smith.
ADC Published Online First: 14 February 2007.
doi:10.1136/adc.2006.105494.

Click here for Abstract (no subscription required).

click here for information on breast feeding versus Formula Feeding from Kidshealth (US).

Written by: Catharine Paddock
Writer: Medical News Today