Researchers find one more reason breast is best for babies: Higher IQs

Increased breast-feeding during the first months of life appears to raise a child's verbal IQ, according to a study of nearly 14,000 children released Monday.

The study, undertaken in Belarus, found that 6-year-olds whose mothers had been part of a program that encouraged them to breast-feed had a verbal IQ that was 7.5 points higher that children in a control group.

The researchers said their findings suggested that the longer an infant is fed exclusively breast milk, the greater the IQ improvement.

The results, in Archives of General Psychiatry, echo smaller previous studies that found children and adults who were breast-fed tend to have higher IQs than whose who were not.

Lead author Dr. Michael Kramer, a professor of pediatrics at McGill University in Montreal, said the IQ improvements were modest and might not be noticeable on an individual basis. But he added that the increase could have a significant effect on society as a whole.

"If we can increase IQ by three to four points in the whole population, we can have fewer children at the low end and more Einsteins at the high end," he said.

Kramer said that more research was needed to determine if the benefits were related to a component of breast milk or to the physical and social interaction between mother and child that is inherent in breast-feeding.

The World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that infants receive only breast milk during the first six months of life. Children who are breast-fed are believed to have health advantages.

SMOKING BAN HELPS TEENS NOT START

A Massachusetts study suggests that restaurant smoking bans may play a big role in persuading teens not to become smokers.

In the four-year study of 2,791 children between ages 12 and 17 who lived throughout Massachusetts, youths who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than those in communities with no bans or weak ones, the researchers reported in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The findings back up the idea that smoking bans discourage tobacco use in teens by sending the message that smoking is frowned upon in the community, as well as simply by reducing their exposure to smokers in public places, said Dr. Michael Siegel, of the Boston University School of Public Health, and the study's lead author.

"If [teens] perceive a lot of other people are smoking, they think it's the norm," he said.

The study found that having a smoker as a parent or a close friend was a factor in predicting whether children experiment with cigarettes. But strong bans had a bigger influence on whether smoking grew into a habit.

PARENTS: DON'T PANIC ABOUT KID'S FEVER

Many parents worry too much about the danger of childhood fevers and tend to over-treat even the mildest temperatures, according to research presented Monday by Johns Hopkins doctors. A little fever, they say, actually might be good for kids. (It's not technically a fever until it hits 100.4 degrees, doctors say.)

"Parents have this idea we've got to get fever down at all costs," said Dr. Michael Crocetti, a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and an author of the study. "Fever actually helps, for most infections, to fight the infection. It helps our immune system work better."

Only fevers above 107 degrees can cause brain damage in children, he said.

The study was drawn from 487 interviews with parents of patients at two Baltimore clinics. Researchers found that parents gave their children acetaminophen and ibuprofen more often than recommended.

INSULIN PUMPS FOR KIDS: BE VIGILANT

Insulin pumps are used by tens of thousands of teenagers worldwide with Type 1 diabetes, but they can be risky and have been linked to injuries and even deaths, a review by federal regulators found.

Parents should be vigilant in watching their children's use of the pumps, researchers from the Food and Drug Administration wrote. They didn't advise against using the devices. But they called for more study to address safety concerns in teens and even younger children who use the popular pumps.

The federal review of use by young people over a decade found 13 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries connected with the pumps. At times, the devices malfunctioned, but other times, teens were careless or took risks, the study authors wrote.

The pumps are popular because they allow young people to live more normal lives, giving themselves insulin discreetly in public.

Insulin pumps are the size of a cell phone and worn on a belt or pocket. They send insulin into the body through a plastic tube with a small tip under the skin.

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