Breastfeeding has a positive influence on physical and mental development. Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurobehavioral disorder with major social, familial, and academic influences. The present study aimed to evaluate whether ADHD is associated with a shorter duration of breastfeeding. Subjects and Methods: In this retrospective matched study, children 6-12 years old diagnosed at Schneider's Children Medical Center (Petach Tikva, Israel) with ADHD between 2008

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... d 2009 were compared with two control groups. The first one consisted of healthy (no ADHD) siblings of ADHD children; the second control group consisted of children without ADHD who consulted at the otolaryngology clinic. A constructed questionnaire about demographic, medical, and perinatal findings, feeding history during the first year of life, and a validated adult ADHD screening questionnaire were given to both parents of every child in each group. Results: In children later diagnosed as having ADHD, 43% were breastfed at 3 months of age compared with 69% in the siblings group and 73% in the control non-related group ( p = 0.002). By 6 months of age 29% of ADHD children were breastfed compared with 50% in the siblings group and 57% in the control non-related group ( p = 0.011). A stepwise logistic regression that included the variables found to be significant in univariate analysis demonstrated a significant association between ADHD and lack of breastfeeding at 3 months of age, maternal age at birth, male gender, and parental divorce. Conclusions: Children with ADHD were less likely to breastfeed at 3 months and 6 months of age than children in the two control groups. We speculate that breastfeeding may have a protective effect from developing ADHD later in childhood.