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Many researchers have investigated the potential impact of breastfeeding in infancy on a child's subsequent development, but only a small subset of these studies considers communication development and impairment. This poster reviews that literature, discussing postnatal neurodevelopment, potential mechanisms for dietary influences on communication outcomes, studies of typically developing children, and studies of children with communication concerns. For population-based studies of language development, a modest but statistically robust relationship is seen across
large samples that account for breastfeeding exclusivity. A similar protective relationship is seen in studies that evaluate the relationship between breastfeeding and communication disorders; effect sizes are typically larger in these papers. Implications for researchers and service providers are reviewed.
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