There’s been a lot of research in recent years about the connection between breast-feeding and intelligence. However, it wasn’t until new research from researchers in Canada and Belarus that a stronger correlation was made.

The children in the group where breast-feeding was encouraged scored about 5 percent higher in IQ tests and did better academically, the researchers found. Previous studies had indicated brain development and intelligence benefits for breast-fed children.

Researchers still aren’t sure of the cause. On the surface it seems like it might be the milk, but there may be other reasons.

“It could even be that because breast-feeding takes longer, the mother is interacting more with the baby, talking with the baby, soothing the baby,” he said. “It could be an emotional thing. It could be a physical thing. Or it could be a hormone or something else in the milk that’s absorbed by the baby.”

Regardless, pediatricians still recommend that mothers breastfeed their children for at least the first 6 months.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that women who do not have health problems exclusively breast-feed their infants for at least the first six months, with it continuing at least through the first year as other foods are introduced.