CNN —Whether children were breastfed as infants and for how long may have an impact on their test scores when they are adolescents, according to new research. What the study team found was that there was a modest improvement in test scores associated with being breastfed longer, Pereyra-Elías said. Consequently, the results only show a correlation between breastfeeding and test scores — not causation. The researchers tried to control for many factors that might influence their results, like the mother’s cognitive ability, but they couldn’t account for everything in an observational study, Pereyra-Elías said. The difference this study showed was modest, Pereyra-Elías added, meaning that it does not make a big enough difference on the test scores that it should cause parents worry, Pereyra-Elías said.

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Persons: Reneé, Elías, Kevin McConway, McConway, ” McConway, It’s, ”, “, Andrew Whitelaw, Whitelaw Organizations: CNN, Disease, University of Oxford, Open University, University of Bristol Locations: England, United Kingdom