Drinking or smoking while breastfeeding and later developmental health outcomes in children

Abstract

Objectives: Prenatal intake of alcohol and tobacco have been associated with negative outcomes in children. Consumption of alcohol while breastfeeding has also been associated with dose-dependent decreases in abstract reasoning ability and academic scores in children at later ages. Using longitudinal data from The Growing Up in Australia Study, the current study aimed to investigate whether intake of alcohol or tobacco while breastfeeding was related to later developmental health outcomes in children. Results: Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed on a sample of 2008 babies who were actively breastfeeding at study entry and 4679 babies who had been breastfed at any time (actively breastfed babies combined with babies who had been previously breastfed). Only a diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder and Attention deficit disorder were associated with lower developmental health outcomes. Neither maternal alcohol consumption nor tobacco smoking while breastfeeding were associated with developmental health outcomes at 6-7 years old or 10-11 years old for either sample group. A relationship between maternal consumption of alcohol or tobacco smoking while breastfeeding and later developmental health outcomes in children was not identified.

Alcohol and Tobacco use While Breastfeeding and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Wave 1 represents study entry. Only waves 4 (age 6–7 years) and 6 (age 10–11 years) outcomes were analysed for comparison to prior studies (Gibson & Porter, 2018 , 2020a , 2020b ). Further details are available in LSAC Technical Paper No 1 (Soloff et al, 2005 ), from the LSAC website https://growingupinaustralia.gov.au/ (including dietary information), and from previous publications (Gibson & Porter, 2018 , 2020a , 2020b ).…”

“…Breastfeeding was not defined any further, and the questionnaire did not specify whether feeding of expressed milk should be defined as breastfeeding. Further details, including specific wording of questions, have been previously described (Gibson & Porter, 2018 , 2020a , 2020b ).

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“…Variables have been described previously (Gibson & Porter, 2018 , 2020a , 2020b ). Briefly, tobacco smoking was recorded as the number of cigarettes mothers smoked on average per day at Wave 1, and retrospectively during pregnancy.…”

“…Dose-dependent reductions in abstract reasoning (Gibson & Porter, 2018 ), academic achievement (Gibson & Porter, 2020a ), but not developmental health (Gibson & Porter, 2020b ) have been observed following maternal consumption of alcohol while breastfeeding. This suggests that cognitive and academic outcomes may be impacted by maternal intake of alcohol during lactation.…”

Maternal drinking and smoking. Can it explain the exceptional academic performance of LBOTE children? A preliminary analysis

“…Prenatal maternal alcohol and tobacco intake have also been found to negatively impact children’s academic performance [ 18 , 19 ]. While no changes in developmental health outcomes have been observed [ 20 ], dose-dependent reductions in cognitive and academic outcomes have been found in children of mothers who consumed alcohol while breastfeeding [ 21 , 22 ]. This suggests that maternal alcohol consumption or tobacco smoking while breastfeeding may be additional factors that contribute to differences in academic achievement between LBOTE and ELB children.…”