Socio-Demographic Predictors of Neuro-Neurocognitive Development in Breast-Fed and Formula-Fed Infants at Chilenje First Level Hospital in Lusaka

BACKGROUND: Research on the association between feeding type and child neurocognitive development presents conflicting results, with some studies reporting positive effects while others find no significant impact. Socio-demographic characteristics may help explain these discrepancies. This study aims to examine the socio-demographic factors that predict neurocognitive development in breast-fed versus formula-fed infants METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 31 six months old singleton infants (21 breastfed, 10 formula-fed) with their primary caregivers attending under five clinics at Chilenje First Level Hospital in Lusaka. Infants’ cognitive behaviours, receptive communication, and expressive communication language development were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III, the primary caregivers completed a structured questionnaire on socio-demographics. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: Results demonstrated that breast-fed infants had significant higher mean scores on the cognitive behaviours domain (11.48 vs 7.50, p= .03), and the receptive language domain (8.48 vs 6.50, p= .02). A regression analysis showed that unemployment strongly predicted receptive language and accounted for nineteen percent of variability (r=.44, r2=.19, p=.01). Unemployment had a moderately positive relationship and accounted for sixteen percent of the variability in expressive language (r=.39, r2=16, p=.03). CONCLUSIONS: Our study found that breastfeeding significantly enhances certain domains of neurocognition. Breastfed infants exhibited superior cognitive behaviours, receptive and expressive language skills. In addition, six-month-old infants with unemployed primary caregivers performed better in both receptive and expressive language communication.