The study undertaken by the University of Oxford and the Institute for Social and Economic Research, at the University of Essex, examined the effect of breastfeeding on children’s cognitive outcomes, from tests in reading, writing and maths at the ages of five, seven, 11 and 14.
The study compared a breastfed baby with one or more babies who were not breastfed, but who had similar characteristics, such as sex, birth weight, mother’s age and marital status, both parents’ job status and education.
The report states that the relationship between breastfeeding and academic outcomes at age 14 is clear. "The relationship is most marked for English, where babies who were not breastfed at all go on to score around one third below average [of the sample] at age 14, while those who were breastfed for a year go on to score well over half higher. Differences in the other subjects are less stark but still large."
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