The Relationship Between Breastfeeding and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder: What Do We Know? A Systematic Review

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between breastfeeding, which is an important factor in protecting and improving child health, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which is an increasingly common public health problem, and to determine the current situation in the literature. Studies published in English before May 2023 using the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched. Ten cross-sectional, 10 case-control, 12 cohort studies, and 2 randomized controlled trials involving a total of 420 694 participants were included in this study. A total of 34 studies conducted between 2007 and 2022 were included in the systematic review. The lack of a standardized definition of ADHD diagnoses and breastfeeding categorizations in the included studies leads to different results between studies. The findings suggest that breastfeeding may be associated with a reduced risk of ADHD in children. Breastfeeding could potentially serve as a protective factor for ADHD; however, high-quality longitudinal studies are needed to confirm or refute this causality and to understand the underlying potential mechanisms.

Cite this article as: Evcil FY, Batmaz K, Çoban B, Doğan E, Önal Ö, Kişioğlu AN. The relationship between breastfeeding and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder: What we do? A systematic review. Neuropsychiatr Invest. 2025, 63, 0008, doi:10.5152/NeuropsychiatricInvest.2025.25008.