The study focused on children breastfed long term – considered to be at least three months.<\/p>\n
Kat Otto, from Exeter, had planned to breastfeed her son Mattis until he was a toddler but is no longer insisting on a deadline.<\/p>\n
“There were definitely tricky bits,” she said.<\/p>\n
“He lost a lot of weight straight after he was born so I was pushed to top up, and I’ve had mastitis, external<\/a> and problems like that.<\/p>\n “But Mattis is 15 months now, and we’re still going. It’s fun, and it’s getting funnier and funnier, because he’s got his own mind – I won’t be giving up anytime soon.”<\/p>\n According to Unicef, external<\/a>, an estimated 17% women in the UK exclusively breastfeed at three months – up from 13% in 2005 but still some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world.<\/p>\n The UN agency said 81% of babies were breastfed at birth, but recognised many considerations affect whether a mother continued, including latching issues, family support and personal choice.<\/p>\n The researchers behind the study stressed it has highlighted factors besides breastfeeding that contribute to a child’s development.<\/p>\n Dr Caramaschi said: “We were actually expecting to see more differences [between breastfed babies and not].<\/p>\n “This shows that there are many more factors involved in healthy child development.<\/p>\n “So obviously for mothers who can’t breastfeed, there are many more ways that they can boost their child’s immunity and their healthy development.”<\/p>\n Follow BBC Devon on X, external<\/a>, Facebook, external<\/a> and Instagram, external<\/a>. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk, external<\/a>.<\/p>\n