Modified formula milk not linked to better academic performance

baby milk - Babies who were given nutritionally modified formula milk had the same maths and English exam results as children who were given standard formula milk by age 16, finds a major new study led by UCL researchers that links seven randomised controlled trials to school performance re Scientists from the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH) and the UCL Institute of Education, who published their findings in the BMJ today, used a novel approach to link school performance and health data to see whether nutritionally modified formula milk made any difference to later cognitive ability. The research team analysed data from 1763 children who were participating in trials between 1993 and 2001 and were randomly given either enriched or standard formula milk. Randomisation ensured that the groups were equal in all ways apart from the type of formula milk they received. The researchers then gathered anonymised data for 91% (1607) of the children from their school records at age 11 and 16 to see if the type of milk they had been given as babies had a noticeable effect on their school performance. Two of the trials tested formula milks which had been enriched with a long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA), one of the many breast milk constituents with a role in brain development. Another trial tested follow-on formula with high-iron content and two tested nutrient enriched formula milks. A further two tested formulations with added sn-2 palmitate or nucleotides, but these were not thought to relate to cognition.