Any breastfeeding mother knows that breastfeeding positively affects her baby’s temperament, but a new study finds these effects last into adulthood.
A long term study conducted in Finland “breastfeeding may have long-term effects on offspring hostility”.
The Daily Mail reports:
The study, published in the Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, tracked around 2,000 individuals from birth to the age of twenty-four.
Researchers were interested in investigating long-term impact of breastfeeding on personality…
Most of the mothers, all of which were Finnish, had breastfed their children (88.2 per cent), and the average duration of breastfeeding was 4 months.
Results showed those who were bottle fed displayed higher levels of hostility, especially cynicism and paranoia, in adulthood than their 4 to 6-month-breastfed peers.
Cynicism and paranoia levels were higher among men, while anger was higher among women.
According to Dr Paivi Merjonen, of the University of Turku,
“Those who were not breastfed in infancy had higher levels of adult hostility than those who were breastfed.”
The next time I encounter an angry adult, I will wonder, were you breastfed?
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