Exclusive breastfeeding over longer period of duration reduces risk of developmental delays : JAMA

Data from a nationwide network for routine child development surveillance in Israel that is connected to national social insurance financial entitlements for neurodevelopmental deficits were utilized in this retrospective cohort analysis. The participants were children born between January 2014 and December 2020, with at least one follow-up surveillance visit at the age of two or three and at least 35 weeks of gestation without significant morbidity. The delays in reaching developmental milestones and the identification of certain neurodevelopmental disorders were the main results.

Nearly, 20,642 (3.6%) of the 5,70,532 children (291,953 [51.2%] male) were preterm, 38,499 (6.7%) were tiny for gestational age, and 297,571 (52.1%) were breastfed for at least 6 months. When compared to children exposed to less than 6 months of nursing, those who were nursed for at least 6 months showed fewer delays in reaching linguistic and social or motor developmental goals.

Children who were nursed for at least 6 months out of 37,704 sibling pairs were less likely than their siblings who were breastfed for less than 6 months or not at all to exhibit milestone attainment delays or get a neurodevelopmental disorder diagnosis. Overall, persistent breastfeeding was linked to a decreased risk of developmental delays. 

Source: 

Goldshtein, I., Sadaka, Y., Amit, G., Kasir, N., Bourgeron, T., Warrier, V., Akiva, P., Avgil Tsadok, M., & Zimmerman, D. R. (2025). Breastfeeding duration and child development. JAMA Network Open, 8(3), e251540. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.1540