British study finds that breastfed babies have higher IQs than bottlefed

The Telegraph reports study finding that breastfed babies are more intelligent than bottlefed: "there were two schools of thought on how breastfeeding had an effect: that long-chain fatty acids in breast milk helped the brain develop; and that the act of breastfeeding improved the mother-child bond."

I would ascribe much of the benefit babies get from being breastfed to the fact that breast milk is low in sodium, lower in sodium than formula milk. And breast milk is, of course, the food that has evolved over millions of years as that best suited to human babies, especially newborns. Children, and babies in particular, are harmed by too high intake of sodium/salt. See Children and Salt Intake.

Breast-feeding makes children significantly smarter and helps to improve reading and writing, according to the biggest study of its kind.

Breast-feeding boosts a child's IQ, says study

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Researchers looked at almost 14,000 children over a period of more than six years and found that those who had been breast-fed performed far better in IQ tests.

At the age of six-and-a-half, children who had been exclusively breast-fed in infancy scored 5.9 points higher on average in tests of overall intelligence. Teachers also rated these children significantly higher academically than control children in reading and writing.

Previous studies suggested a link between breast-feeding and IQ but they were treated with scepticism because of claims that the findings said more about social factors generally than breast-feeding itself.

"Our study provides the strongest evidence to date that prolonged and exclusive breast-feeding makes kids smarter," says Prof Michael Kramer at McGill University in Canada.

He said the findings should help boost efforts "to promote, protect and support breast-feeding"."

I believe the main factor that makes breastfeeding advantageous for babies is that breast milk is low in sodium/salt. This also helps to prevent infant obesity. See Children and Obesity

'Artificial colourings as harmful as leaded petrol for children'

'Artificial colourings as harmful as leaded petrol for children'

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"Artificial colourings could be removed from hundreds of food products after researchers found that they may be almost as harmful to children's development as leaded petrol.

The additives, found in a host of sweets and soft drinks, have been linked to behavioural problems. But a team at Southampton University, carrying out a £750,000 study for the Food Standards Agency, (FSA) suggested seven colourings, including tartrazine and sunset yellow, could also affect children's intelligence by up to five IQ points.

The board of the FSA, the industry's governing body, will meet on Thursday to consider recommendations from its officials that manufacturers should voluntarily remove six of the E numbers from their products while further research is carried out on the seventh, sodium benzoate. They would be urged to use natural replacements.

The Southampton study was published in September but the FSA ignored calls for swift action after the Committee on Toxicology said additives had only a moderate effect on some children.

Claims that the colourings were virtually as damaging as lead emerged when the leader of the research, Professor Jim Stevenson, wrote to the FSA demanding immediate action."

"The additives linked to hyperactive behaviour are:

• Tartrazine (E102): Yellow food colouring found in mushy peas and candy floss, banned from all foods and drinks for under-threes.

• Quinoline yellow (E104): Food colouring found in squash, flu capsules

• Sunset yellow (E110): Orange yellow colouring found in bubble gum and jelly babies.

• Carmoisine (E122): Red food colouring found in throat lozenges

• Ponceau 4R (E124): Red food colouring found in pear drops and bombay mix

• Allura red (E129): Red food colouring found in fruit jelly sweets and lollipops.

• Sodium benzoate (E211): Artificial preservative found in squash, fizzy drinks and cough syrup"

Epilepsy drug, valproate, may lower children's IQ

Epilepsy drug may lower children's IQ, study shows - Guardian

Extract:

"Women who took an epilepsy drug during their pregnancy are at greater risk of having children with lower IQ, according to a study. Taking the drug valproate - which is already at the centre of a British court action after claims that it has damaged children - seems to double the chance that the woman's child will be born with mental retardation.

Around 140 British families claim their children are suffering from foetal anti-convulsant syndrome because their mothers took valproate during pregnancy. The syndrome encompasses a range of neural, behavioural and physical disorders such as cleft palate and spina bifida, learning difficulties, behavioural problems and abnormalities in movement, speech, vision and hearing. Many mothers were prescribed the brand Epilim, made by Sanofi-Synthelabo, though the drug is also available in generic forms. So far, Sanofi is the only company involved in the court action, with a trial date set for October 2008.

In the research, Kimford Meador, of the University of Florida in Gainesville, looked at IQ results of 187 children born to mothers who had taken the epilepsy drugs carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytoin, or valproate during pregnancy. The results, presented yesterday at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Boston, showed 24% of the children of mothers who took valproate had an IQ low enough to be defined as mentally retarded, compared to 12% for carbamazepine, 9% for lamotrigine, and 12% for phenytoin.

Children whose mothers took carbamazepine scored an average of 93 points on the IQ tests, those on phenytoin 93, lamotrigine 96, and 84 for valproate. "Our findings are consistent with other studies, which have shown valproate poses an increased risk for foetal death and birth defects," said Dr Meador."

Doctors are supposed to avoid prescribing drugs to pregnant women unless the drugs are absolutely necessary because so many drugs are particularly dangerous to unborn babies. I know personally, however, that valproate is a dangerous drug and that it is not only unborn babies that are affected. - I used to know a woman whose only child, a beloved daughter, died because an obstinate doctor had insisted to her mother that the drug was safe and that the little girl was just attention-seeking and not really ill...)o: - And I, in my innocence years ago, took Epilim for some weeks. I was told that it would lessen the chronic toothache I suffered because of the sustained gross negligence of senior dental staff at the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital. - It did not lessen the pain at all; what it did do was cause some of my hair to fall out. It has many adverse side-effects. - For years now I've been punctilious in avoiding all drugs that I can; I'm certain that on the whole they do far, far more harm than good.


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
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