ArticleArchives of disease in childhood2023
Association between breastfeeding duration and educational achievement in England: results from the Millennium Cohort Study.
Article in Archives of disease in childhood, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Effectiveness of Parent-Targeted Digital Health Interventions on Breastfeeding Practices: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Breastfeeding Duration and Cognitive Performance Among Youths.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Association between breastfeeding duration and educational attainment in rural Southwest Uganda: a population-based cohort study.Global health action · 2024Article
- Associations between maternal body mass index and childhood infections in UK primary care: findings from the Born in Bradford birth cohort study.Archives of disease in childhood · 2024Article
- Increase in Breastfeeding Rates in Baby-Friendly Hospitals in Greece: Comparison with the National Study of 2017.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Breastfeeding, cognitive ability, and residual confounding: A comment on studies by Pereyra-Elìas et al.PloS one · 2024Article
- Unraveling the effects of maternal breastfeeding duration and exclusive breast milk on children's cognitive abilities in early childhood.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Association Between Breastfeeding and Neurodevelopment at 6 Years of Age in the French PELAGIE Birth Cohort.Journal of midwifery & women's healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the association between breastfeeding duration and educational outcomes at the end of secondary education among children from the Millennium Cohort Study.
designCohort study comparing school results at age 16 according to breastfeeding duration.
settingEngland.
participantsChildren born in 2000-2002 (nationally representative sample). EXPOSURE: Self-reported breastfeeding duration (categorised).
main outcome measuresStandardised school assessments taken at the end of secondary education (General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs), marked 9-1) in English and Mathematics, categorised as: 'fail, marks <4', 'low pass, marks 4-6' and 'high pass, marks ≥7 (equivalent to A-A*)'. Additionally, overall achievement was measured using the 'attainment 8' score (adding the marks of eight GCSEs, English and Mathematics double weighted; 0-90).
resultsApproximately 5000 children were included. Longer breastfeeding was associated with better educational outcomes. For example, after full adjustment for socioeconomic markers and maternal cognitive ability, in comparison with children who were never breastfed, those who were breastfed for longer were more likely to have a high pass in their English and Mathematics GCSEs, and less likely to fail the English GCSE (but not the Mathematics GCSE). Additionally, compared with those never breastfed, those breastfed for at least 4 months had, on average, a 2-3 point higher attainment 8 score (coefficients: 2.10, 95% CI 0.06 to 4.14 at 4-6 months; 2.56, 95% CI 0.65 to 4.47 at 6-12 months and 3.09, 95% CI 0.84 to 5.35 at ≥12 months).
conclusionsA longer breastfeeding duration was associated with modest improvements in educational outcomes at age 16, after controlling for important confounders.
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