Abstract
Objective:
Previous studies suggested that breast-feeding has an important role in mental development. Very few studies have investigated the duration of breast-feeding in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of the this study is to compare duration of breast feeding in children with ADHD and normals, and to determine the relationship between duration of breast feeding and the intelligence quotient, and visual motor abilities.
Methods:
The duration of breast feeding in 91 male children with ADHD was compared fifty age, sex, race, and socioeconomic matched controls without any mental disorder. The correlation between duration of breast-feeding and the scores of Visual Motor Gestalt Test (VMGT), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R), and DSM-IV Based Disruptive Behavior Disorders Screening and Rating Scale (DBD-STS) in ADHD gruop was investigated.
Results:
The duration of breast-feeding was significantly shorter in children with ADHD than in normals. The duration of breast-feeding positively correlated with the verbal IQ, performance IQ, full IQ, and subtests of arithmatic, and picture complation of WISC-R in children with ADHD. There was no other statistically significant corelation between the duration of breast-feeding and subtests of WISC-R and VMGTs score in children with ADHD. In whole group (ADHD and normals), significant negative corelation was observed between the duration of breast-feeding and the scores of DBD-STS.
Conclusion:
This study suggested that breast-feeding may have a protective role in ADHD, and benefits for mental development.
Keywords: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, breast feeding, human milk
