BREAST FEEDING DURATION AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN

Breast feeding remains the best method of feeding being adapted for child needs. Nutrition generally is the single most important factor affecting growth and development. This is a cross-sectional, community based study conducted during the period April – July 2004 in Shambat area, Khartoum North province. The objective was to study the effect of breast feeding duration and possible associated factors on cognitive development of preschool children. 113 healthy children aged 3-6 years were randomly selected from five kinder gardens. There were 53 male and 60 female; 57.5% were four to less than five years old. 77.9% were of second or more birth order and 95.6% were born at term. Two thirds of mothers were 30-39 years old while half of fathers were 40-49 years of age. 81.4% of mothers and 62.8% of fathers were educated for 12 years or less. 82.8% of mothers were housewives while one-third of fathers were employees. Breast feeding for 12-24 months was practiced by 72.6% of mothers; supplementation in the fourth month with either home made foods was observed in 45.1% of cases and together with the family or separate specially made semisolids foods by 41.6% of mothers. The intelligence quotient was found to be normal, intelligent, and very intelligent in 46.9%. 21.2% and 23.9%, respectively. Breast feeding duration had significant effect on the intelligence quotient of children even when adjusted for parental age, education, paternal occupation and child birth order; however this relation was insignificant when adjusted for sex. Other variables including maternal and parental age, education, childbirth order and sex showed no statistical significant relation except for maternal education, which was shown to affect children’s IQ significantly. Child age was shown to affect IQ significantly and breast feeding duration was shown to affect IQ significantly when adjusted for age groups. It is concluded that breast feeding duration has a beneficial effect on intelligence at different ages and maternal education was found to influence children’s IQ. It is recommended to encourage breast feeding for as longer duration as possible as it was shown to influence children’s IQ; however, this should not be exclusive after the first 4 months