Controversial research has emerged to support the claim that breastfeeding may improve a child’s mental health. The study was published in the Journal of Pediatrics and was conducted on Australian children.
However, the University of Southampton has debunked this idea, stating that the relationship was a spurious one, better accounted for by genetic factors, the mother’s intelligence and education, and family upbringing.
That said, there are most definitely beneficial effects from breastfeeding, as well as from extending the length of time that mothers breastfeed their children. But, for breastfeeding to be advantageous, the mother most be properly nourished. For instance, in order to ensure optimal health, Australian authorities have just recently announced that pregnant or breastfeeding women should take iodine supplements. Iodine deficiency in expecting mothers translates into a deficiency in the child. This can adversely affect the development of a baby’s brain and hearing. Iodine deficiencies are common in the developing world; however, for a long time, it has been easy to get it to the population by adding iodine to salt. Also important is folic acid, a nutrient needed to prevent neural tube defects. In well-developed countries, folic acid is usually added to foods in order to ensure adequate intake by the population. Developing countries with less access to processed or supplemented food are not so lucky.
For HIV-positive mothers in the developing world, conventional wisdom has been that avoiding breastfeeding is an important part of reducing the transmission of the HIV virus to infant children. International health research has begun to challenge this idea. Numerous studies from around the world have seemed to indicate that breastfeeding children for at least 6-18 months is the best option for the nutrition and health of the child.
Research from Zambia indicates that stopping breastfeeding before or at 4 months did not decrease the likelihood of HIV transmission from mother-to-child. It did, however, increase child mortality and vulnerability to infectious diseases. With periods of breastfeeding shorter than 6 months, said another study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, the risk that babies will die from diarrhea and/or vomiting increases. Dr. Tracy Creek, conducting research in Botswana, found that almost 90% of babies hospitalized for these causes were not breastfed.
Highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and other treatment/containment strategies that make breastfeeding for the HIV-positive safe are needed to reduce child mortality in the poorest regions. HAART is a very effective HIV treatment regimen involving a combination of anti-retroviral medications. Another method of reducing mother-to-child-transmission while breastfeeding is flash-heating. A 2007 study by the University of California at Berkeley found that heating breast milk containing the HIV virus in a glass jar in a pan or over a flame (a form of pasteurization) can inactivate the virus. The extreme low-cost, low-technology nature of this intervention makes it is an easily adaptable strategy for resource-poor populations. The strategy has been recommended by the WHO; yet, more research on its implementation in pandemic-affected countries is needed.
One thing is certain, according to Dr. Creek: “Breastfeeding is critical to infant survival in the developing world.”