Breast feeding good for baby's eyesight

Children who are breastfed are about 50 per cent less likely to be short-sighted, Singapore researchers said this week.

Docosahexaenoi acid or DHA, found in breast milk, could be the main element which improves early visual development in babies.

"We can recommend infant breastfeeding as a protective behaviour that may be adopted by mothers to lower the probability of the development of myopia," said Dr Saw Seang Mei of the National University of Singapore.

Myopia affects as much as 40 per cent of the population in the United States and Europe.

- REUTERS