Breast-fed babies less likely to become angry and irritable adults

London, Feb 11 (ANI): Infants who were fed milk directly from their mothers in the first six months of their life are less likely to grow up angry and irritable compared to their bottle-fed counterparts, a new study has revealed.

Scientists believe that the warm attachment to their mother makes them more mild-mannered and less hostile in later life, the Daily Express reported.

The study followed almost 2,000 people for 24 years and found that those who were not breastfed as infants had higher levels of hostility, particularly cynicism and paranoia, in adulthood than their peers.

"This population-based study showed that breastfeeding may have long-term effects on offspring hostility. Those who were not breastfed in infancy had higher levels of adult hostility than those who were breastfed," Dr Paivi Merjonen, of the University of Turku in Finland, said.

Apparently the psychological benefits are acquired during the first six months as the study showed that longer-term breast- feeding of more than a year did not lead to even lower hostility.

The findings may be explained by other family characteristics, said the researchers.

The study has been published in the Journal of Psycho- therapy and Psychosomatics. (ANI)