Duration of breast feeding and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in United States preschool-aged children.
Six to twelve months of breast-feeding was linked to slightly lower parent-reported ADHD in preschoolers, but parent stress may inflate the link.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Brasfield et al. (2021) looked at 20,453 U.S. preschoolers.
Parents told researchers if a doctor said the child has ADHD.
The team compared kids who were never breast-fed with kids breast-fed for different lengths of time.
What they found
Kids breast-fed for 6–12 months had slightly lower odds of parent-reported ADHD.
Shorter or longer breast-feeding showed no clear link.
The effect was small and came from parent answers, not doctor exams.
How this fits with other research
Higgins et al. (2021) warn that stressed parents often rate their kids as more impaired.
Joy’s result depends on the same kind of parent report, so the link could be partly driven by parent stress.
Novau-Ferré et al. (2025) show probiotics change gut bacteria in kids with ASD but not ADHD; together the papers hint that early diet matters differently for each diagnosis.
Huang et al. (2014) found mothers of ADHD kids blame the child’s nature; this negative lens may color parent reports used in Joy’s study.
Why it matters
Before you tell families that longer breast-feeding prevents ADHD, pause. The data are cross-sectional and parent-rated. Collect teacher or clinician data too. Ask about parent stress and attribution style. These steps keep your recommendations evidence-based and family-centered.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add a quick parent-stress screener before you trust parent-only ADHD reports.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties sustaining attention and controlling hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. Population-based studies concerning the association between breast-feeding duration and ADHD among preschool-aged children in the United States (U.S.) have been sparse. AIMS: To determine whether there is an association between the duration of breast feeding and ADHD in U.S. children aged 2-5 years. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: We used nationally representative data from the 2016, 2017, and 2018 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) to examine the association between breast-feeding duration and ADHD in U.S. preschool-aged children. Sample characteristics were compared using Rao-Scott chi-square test, and adjusted prevalence odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Of the 20,453 children eligible for our study, 1.5 % had received a diagnosis of ADHD and 77.5 % were reported to have been fed human milk as infants. Prevalence odds of ADHD were 57 % lower among children fed human milk for 6-12 months compared to children never fed human milk after controlling for potential confounders. Among children with durations of breast feeding lasting less than 6 months or lasting 12 months or longer, prevalence odds of ADHD were not significantly lower than the comparison group, children who were never fed human milk, after controlling for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We noted an inverse association between breast feeding durations of 6-12 months and parent-reported diagnosis of ADHD in preschool-aged children in the U.S. Future studies should use longitudinal designs to examine ADHD and duration of breast-feeding measures.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103995