Breast Still Best, Even With Autism Risk? Doc Weighs In.
Written by Staff on August 13th, 2009 in Autism, Diet and Nutrition, Research.
Alexander Tundakov on Flickr
Breast feeding has been linked to many benefits for both baby and child, so it sounds surprising that anyone would link it to an increase in autism for the child.
The problem, is not with breastfeeding, however, but with toxins that leak into breast milk from the environment, such as PCBs.
This risk is no reason to break out the bottle, says Dr. Chung Wong at autisable.com.
“What we have to remember is that this study was on rats and while it is important to encourage research into the harmful toxins in our environment, and their affect on our babies’ brains and development, the benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh this unproven link to autism. Plus a survey carried out in 2006 – “Breastfeeding, infant formula supplementation, and Autistic Disorder: the results of a parent survey” by Stephen T Schultz et al. concluded that:
“The results of this preliminary study indicate that children who were not breastfed or were fed infant formula without docosahexaenoic acid/arachidonic acid supplementation were significantly more likely to have autistic disorder.”
“Breast is still definitely best.”
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