Loading...
Australian researchers followed over 5000 children from infancy through age 11. Roughly 4700 of these infants were ever breast-fed. Mothers were asked about their alcohol intake during breast-feeding.
After controlling for potential confounders, heavier maternal alcohol consumption during breast-feeding was associated with lower nonverbal reasoning scores in a dose-response manner at age 6–7 years. By age 10–11, the difference was no longer significant. The authors suggest that variables like increased education by this age may mediate the effects of alcohol exposure.
Commentators note: “Although findings in this study were independent of prenatal alcohol consumption, pregnancy alcohol use was recorded by maternal self-report retrospectively,…