The effect of breastfeeding on children's educational test scores at nine years of age: Results of an Irish cohort study

Cathal McCrory and Richard Layte

Social Science & Medicine, 2011, vol. 72, issue 9, 1515-1521

Abstract: This retrospective cross-sectional paper examines the relationship between early breastfeeding exposure and children's academic test scores at nine years of age independent of a wide range of possible confounders. The final sample comprised 8226 nine-year-old school children participating in the first wave of the Growing Up in Ireland study. The children were selected through the Irish national school system using a 2-stage sampling method and were representative of the nine-year population. Information relating to breastfeeding initiation and exposure duration was obtained retrospectively at nine years of age via parental recall and children's academic performance was assessed using standardised reading and mathematics tests. Hierarchical linear regression analysis with robust standard errors to control for clustering at the school level was used to quantify the effect of breastfeeding on children's test scores. Propensity score matching was used to compare treatment effects across groups defined by their propensity to breastfeed. In unadjusted analysis, children who were breastfed scored 8.67 percentage points higher on reading and 7.42 percentage points higher on mathematics compared to those who were never breastfed. While the breastfeeding advantage attenuated appreciably when adjusted for a range of child, maternal, socio-economic and socio-environmental characteristics, children who were breastfed continued to enjoy a significant test score advantage of 3.24 (pÂ

Keywords: Ireland; Breastfeeding; Cognitive; ability; Cohort; study; Propensity; score; matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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