Montreal Breastfed babies are more intelligent than those weaned on formula milk, according to the most comprehensive study conducted on the issue.

Doctors followed almost 14,000 children over 6½ years and found that those who were breastfed performed better in IQ tests. They were rated higher at reading, writing and solving mathematical problems.

Researchers from McGill University, in Montreal, studied children born at 31 maternity hospitals across Belarus and randomly assigned half of the hospitals to adopt a breastfeeding programme while the rest acted as a control group. The findings confirm earlier research.

Professor Michael Kramer, the leader of the study – which was published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry – said: “While most studies have been based on association, however, we can now make a causal inference between breastfeeding and intelligence because of the randomised design of our study.”

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