A Study of Breastfeeding and Executive Function in Early Childhood Children

Abstract

Breastfeeding  may  have  some  potential  to  improve  executive  function  during  early childhood. This  descriptive  research  study  aimed  (1)  to  investigate  the  relationship  between  the duration  of  breastfeeding  and  executive  function  in  early  childhood  children  and  (2)  to  compare executive function in early childhood children classified by different patterns of breastfeeding in the first 6 months. The data were collected from a sample group of 330 children aged 2-3 years who had  a  history  of  exclusively  breastfeeding  for  at  least  1  month  and  were  studying  at  the  early childhood level of the child development center under the local administrative organization (LAO)in  the  2022  academic  year  in  the  area  of  Muang  Ratchaburi  district,  Ratchaburi  province.  The research  instruments  included two sets  of  questionnaires.  Set one was for parents.  It was a questionnaire used  to  assess breastfeeding  information, and  the  second  set  for  teachers was a standard  assessment  of  executive  thinking  skills.  The  data  were analyzed  using  the  frequency distribution,  percentage,  mean,  standard  deviation,  Pearson's  correlation,  and  one-way  ANOVA. The results showed that the duration of breastfeeding had a positive relationship with the behavior related  to  EF  skill  at  the  low  level (p<.05)  (r=.141)  and  a  negative  relationship  with  the behavioral problems related to EF dysfunctions at the low level (p<.05) (r=-.122). Moreover, a comparison  of  executive  function  in  early  childhood  children classified  by  the  patterns  of breastfeeding  in  the  first  6  months,  including  breast-fed  alone,  mixed  breast  and bottle-fed,  and bottle-fed alone, found no difference.