Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth have been studying 2500 West Australian children for 16 years and have come up with some remarkable conclusions relating breastfeeding and the mental health of a child. Their research proves that children who are breastfed for more than 6 months from birth have better mental health than children who weren't.
This revolutionary study, called the Raine Study, was done by using standard parameters that are used to measure child behavior. The assessment was done at ages 2, 6, 8 and 10. The results were a revelation. Children who have been breastfed for less than 6 months stand a 52% enhanced risk of a mental health issue at age 2, a 55% risk at age 6, 61% at age 8 and 37% at age 10.
Other factors such as the social and financial condition of the parents, their education, the family environment and mutual happiness were also taken into consideration while arriving at these results. Hence researchers were of the firm opinion that mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed for a longer time. This should be considered a social and community issue and more impetus should be laid on the benefits of breastfeeding.
The mental health issues that a child could face due to lack of mother's milk are persistent bad behavior, aggression and anti-social behavior. The children who are breastfed for less than 6 months seemed more depressed, apprehensive and less social.
