Type of feeding during infancy and later development of schizophrenia

Sasaki, Tsukasa; Okazaki, Yuji; Akaho, Rie; Masui, Kanji; Harada, Seiichi; Lee, Ilbong; Takazawa, Satoru; Takahashi, Shojiro; Iida, Shigeru; Takakuwa, Mitsutoshi

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Volume 42, Issue 1 , Pages 79-82, 16 March 2000

Type of feeding during infancy and later development of schizophrenia

Tsukasa Sasaki
- Department of Psychiatry, Teikyo University Mizonokuchi Hospital, Kawasaki, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, Health Service Center, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Psychiatry, Health Service Center, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113, Japan. Fax: +81-3-5841-2588
Yuji Okazaki
- Department of Psychiatry, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan
Rie Akaho
- Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Kanji Masui
- Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Metropolitan Bokuto Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Seiichi Harada
- Department of Psychiatry, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu, Mie, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Telecommunication Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Ilbong Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Satoru Takazawa
- Department of Psychiatry, Teikyo University Mizonokuchi Hospital, Kawasaki, Japan
Shojiro Takahashi
- Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Shigeru Iida
- Shofuso Mental Hospital, Saitama, Japan
Mitsutoshi Takakuwa
- Ichinodai Mental Clinic, Tokyo, Japan

Received 15 February 1999; accepted 9 June 1999.

Abstract

Nutrition may be critical for neurodevelopment and can affect the later development of schizophrenia. Recently, a marked reduction in breast-feeding was reported in infants that developed schizophrenia in later life (McCreadie, R.G., 1997. The Nithsdale Schizophrenia Surveys. 16. Breast-feeding and schizophrenia: preliminary results and hypothesis. Br. J. Psychiatr. 170, 334–337). In the present study, we investigated feeding patterns during the infancy of 100 schizophrenia patients, 37 of their siblings and 200 age-matched healthy controls using a structured written questionnaire. Having been breast-fed was not negatively associated with schizophrenia.

Keywords: Bottle-feeding, Breast-feeding, Neurodevelopment, Nutrition, Schizophrenia