On Child Intelligence and IQ Points

Can milk make my child intelligent? I believe it alone, cannot.

Intelligence is a combination of genes, proper nutrition and the environment (situations and encouragement from parents,school and others in the community experienced by the child).

I happen to chance upon an advertisement on + 7IQ points. It created interest in me. As a mom, I always wish for my child to be successful in life. I have always believed that high IQ Points is a nice to have. When I saw the advertisement on it, I started asking myself if it is a must have.

I inquired with a pediatrician what the +7IQ Points was all about. Doctor was accommodating enough and told me that the study mentioned on the possibility that your child may increase his IQ Points while drinking a specific formula milk fortified with DHA. What most failed to look and inquired at was the comparison of its control group (vs the group which drank the formula fortified with DHA). When I asked from what group was it compared to, what I understood from what has been explained was apparently the control group used was a milk not fortified with DHA. I think case will not be true here in the Philippines as most of the milk brands found in our country is already fortified with DHA.

DHA's best source would be breast milk and breast milk is free of charge. Even if milk products are highly competitive on each other with their product offerings and claims, I totally agree on the saying, "breast milk is still best for babies".

I cannot afford to pay a huge amount of money to buy a milk highly fortified with DHA but is substandard in terms of other nutrients important for a child's development. I hope milk companies would be more responsible in their advertising. As a mother, I fervently hope one day that one or all of them would have a genuine interest to help moms rather than to mislead them in their advertising claims.