Breast-fed babies grow up smarter

MANILA, Philippines - Breast feeding advocates have tied up with a high-IQ organization to debunk the claims of infant formula makers whose advertisements claim that their products increase a child’s intelligence.

Non-government organization Children for Breastfeeding, Inc. (CfB) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mensa Philippines, Inc. to promote the importance of breastfeeding in a child’s brain development.

Mensa is an international organization for people with high intelligence quotient (IQ). Membership is open to people whose scores are within the top two percent of a standardized and supervised intelligence test.

Mensa Philippines has 100 active members and is an emerging national branch of Mensa International Ltd. 

In the MOU, Mensa Philippines pledged to “avoid endorsing or accepting sponsorship and/or advertising fees for any infant milk formula, baby bottles, teats or pacifiers, or any other such products or paraphernalia that would tend to discourage the practice of breastfeeding.”

CfB head Dr. Elvira Henares-Esguerra, a fellow of US-based Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, said they have always thought of creative ideas to raise breastfeeding awareness since they started their advocacy in 2004.

In the past, the group convinced SM malls to put up breast feeding rooms for their customers. There are now 34 SM malls nationwide with breastfeeding rooms.

In 2006, the group also achieved a new Guinness World Record for the most number of breastfeeding mothers in a single site by gathering 3,541 mothers at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila. They beat the record of Berkley, California that only gathered 1,130 breastfeeding mothers in a single site.

They also set another Guinness World Record for gathering the most number of breastfeeding mothers in multiple sites. In May 2007, they gathered 15,128 mothers in 295 sites.

They also motivated President Arroyo to declare Aug. 1 to 7 of every year as World Breastfeeding Week, to increase breastfeeding awareness.

This time, they are challenging the relation between infant formula consumption and intelligence.

“We need to change the mindset of mothers,” she said. “We have the smart people, so what are you talking about. We have the evidence, we have the smart people behind us and we don’t have to pay them. You cannot buy the Mensa because they are scientists and they think first before entering into a memorandum.”

Former Mensa president Prof. Marla Endriga, a computational biologist from the University of the Philippines-Manila, said breastfeeding does contribute to boosting a child’s intelligence.

“The official position of Mensa Philippines is that the organization recognizes that breastfeeding contributes to increasing the IQ of an individual. Science is clear on that,” she said.

CfB senior science officer Dr. Custer Deocaris, a Mensa member since 1993, said the claims of infant formula brands relating increased IQ to product consumption have little scientific basis.

“(The) promise to give children increased intelligence or an opportunity to become gifted, for which, from a neuroscience perspective, has very little scientific basis. One of the best ways to convey the message that breastfeeding, not formula milk-feeding, is best for intellectual development of babies is to partner a breastfeeding advocacy group with an elite organization of our country’s intellectuals,” said Deocaris, a molecular and psychobiologist.

He hopes CfB’s partnership with Mensa Philippines would lead to a global movement with the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) and Mensa International.

CfB said many Filipino mothers, even those who are impoverished, continue to depend on expensive infant milk formulas instead of breastfeeding their babies.

Deocaris said the Philippines remains one of the largest markets for infant formula in the world. Filipino mothers spend around $469 million annually on infant formula. Multinational milk firms spend $89 million on advertising every year.

The Philippines also has the lowest breastfeeding rate among 56 countries in the last 10 years. In 2003, only 16 percent of the two million babies born in the country were exclusively breast-fed for at least four to five months.

Deocaris said some studies showed that children who are breastfed are also less likely to suffer from behavioral or mental health disorders.

“Milk is a complex mixture of chemicals and proteins specifically tailored to the growing needs of a baby. The impact of these components is further enhanced by the intimate maternal connection that is formed during breastfeeding,” Deocaris said. “The composition of mother’s milk has been perfected for millions of years. Cow’s milk is for the calf, human milk is for babies and without mother’s milk, our species’ intellectual superiority would not have been possible.”

Esguerra said breastfeeding strengthens the bond between mother and child.

“The interaction between the mother and child during breastfeeding floods the child with stimuli like the mother’s scent, her face, her body sounds, her touch and taste that affect the brain of the breastfed. These and the perfect quantity and quality of nutrients and protection from infections in mother’s milk will ensure a child’s well being,” she said.