(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Research has shown that children who were breast
fed as infants have cognitive skills that are superior to those fed infant
formula. Researchers have thought this is due to an essential fatty acid in
breast milk called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). A new study has confirmed that
babies fed formula supplemented with DHA have higher cognitive skills than
babies fed regular formula.
Researchers at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center carried out the study, which used a more
sensitive test of the babies' cognitive abilities and higher concentrations of
DHA than previous research.
The researchers studied 229 infants who received either formula supplemented
with DHA or traditional infant formula. The babies were given the different
formulas either shortly after birth, after six weeks of breastfeeding, or after
four to six months of breastfeeding. When they were nine months old, they were
given a test in which they had to complete a sequence of steps to get a rattle.
Babies who were fed formula supplemented with DHA showed more intentional
behaviors and were more likely to get the rattle.
"Currently, there is no clear consensus on whether infant formula should be
supplemented with DHA," lead author James R. Drover, formerly of the Retina
Foundation of the Southwest, now assistant professor of psychology at Memorial
University in Canada, was quoted as saying. "However, our results clearly
suggest that feeding infants formula supplemented with high concentrations of
DHA provides beneficial effects on cognitive development. Furthermore, because
infants who display superior performance on the means-end problem-solving task
tend to have superior IQ and vocabulary later in childhood, it's possible that
the beneficial effects of DHA extend well beyond infancy."
SOURCE: Child Development, September/October 2009
