Breast Feeding can Narrow the IQ Gap

From the breast is best, according to the US Surgeon General and the American Pediatric Association. The prenatal and early postnatal environments are critical to the healthy brain development of an infant.

Breast-feeding offers unparalleled nutrition and unique defense for the child's immune system, even when mom's health is at its poorest. No wonder the rise in breast-feeding worldwide is a consistent benchmark for world health goals.

Breast-feeding has been shown to be protective against illnesses like painful ear infections, upper and lower respiratory ailments, allergies, intestinal disorders, colds, viruses, staph, strep and E. coli infections, diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, many childhood cancers, meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, salmonella and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Furthermore, it also shows evidence of providing lifetime protection from Crohn's Disease, ulcerative colitis, some lymphomas, insulin-dependent diabetes, obesity, and for girls, breast and ovarian cancer.

Proper nutrition in the early stages of life could conceivably narrow the IQ gap between ethnic groups in north america, and narrow the IQ gap between the developing world and the developed world. Steve Sailer was writing about this back in 2000.

Omega 3 fatty acids are also helpful for proper brain development in the infant.

Infants and fetuses need a lot of support for optimal development. It makes little sense to neglect the young, then lavish most of society's health care expenditures on those at the extreme end of life stage. We are asking a lot from science and technology, to help us live longer and smarter. There is no reason why we cannot give those at the extreme beginning of life a better start.