The relationship between breastfeeding and motor development in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Context The importance and benefits of breastfeeding in children are well recognized, and it may improve motor development. Motor skills are fundamental to childhood development. Although some studies report a positive association between breastfeeding and motor development in children, others have suggested that these differences could be influenced by confounding variables. Objective To estimate the degree to which breastfeeding duration and exclusivity is associated with motor development in children. Thus, a systematic review of the literature and a meta-analysis was conducted. Data Sources MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Web of Science databases were systematically searched from inception to June 2021. Data Extraction The most adjusted relative risks (RRs) or odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) reported by included studies were used. The “breastfeeding duration” category defined by each study was used as the reference category. Additionally, subgroup analyses were performed based on the duration of breastfeeding. Data Analysis Eighteen published studies were included in the systematic review and 14 studies in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the effect size (ES) for exclusively breastfed vs never breastfed children was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.32, 1.41, I2 = 90.3%), and the ES for children breastfed for any length vs never breastfed children was 0.95 (95% CI: 0.80, 1.10, I2 = 88.0%). The remaining groups studied did not show significant differences in outcomes. Conclusions Although our data suggest that breastfeeding may improve motor development in children, more studies are needed because publication bias has been detected. Nevertheless, our results support the promotion of breastfeeding.

Correlates of early child development among children with stunting: A cross‐sectional study in Uganda

“…The negative association between current breastfeeding and child development is contrary to reports from previous studies, where breastfeeding has been associated with better development, especially motor skills, with effect sizes ranging from 0.5 to 10.9 between breastfed versus nonbreastfed (Bernardo et al, 2013; Horta et al, 2015; Quinn et al, 2001; Sacker et al, 2006). However, the results of these studies are prone to confounding, and in adjusted analyses, the effect sizes between breastfed versus nonbreastfed tend to be attenuated: 0.4–8.2 (Bernardo et al, 2013; Hernández‐Luengo et al, 2022; Horta et al, 2007; Horta et al, 2015; Quinn et al, 2001; Sacker et al, 2006). In fact, Renee et al who studied the extent to which confounding explained the association between breastfeeding duration and cognitive development up to 14 years of age, reported that adjusting for SES tended to halve the effect sizes, while further adjustment for maternal cognitive scores explained the remaining association at 5 years of age, while there was still an effect at ages 7, 11 and 14 (Pereyra‐Elías et al, 2022).…”

Learning from mothers' success in breastfeeding maintenance: coping strategies and cues to action

“…Despite well-established physical, psychological, and social benefits of breastfeeding (Victora et al, 2016 ; Babic et al, 2020 ; Hernández-Luengo et al, 2022 ), exclusive breastfeeding for up to 6 months of an infant's age remained worldwide low (Neves et al, 2021 ). Even in more developed countries, such as the UK and the US, where initial breastfeeding rates were as high as 80%, the breastfeeding rate declined very fast, being 34% in the UK and 56% in the US for any breastfeeding rates and 1% in the UK and 25% in the US for rates of exclusive breastfeeding, at 6 months postpartum (UNICEF United Kingdom, 2022 ; US Centers for Disease Control Prevention, 2022 ).…”

Beyond ingredients: Supramolecular structure of lipid droplets in infant formula affects metabolic and brain function in mouse models

“…It is well established that breastfeeding brings many health benefits to both mother [1,2] and infant. Acute benefits for infants include protection against neonatal morbidity and mortality [3] and against proinflammatory gastrointestinal conditions and infections [4,5], while long-term effects include reduced incidence of asthma [6] and (food) allergies, improved cardiometabolic health and reduced obesity risk [7][8][9], and improved neurocognitive functions [10,11]. Many aspects of breastfeeding may contribute to these health benefits.…”