Infants receiving formula supplemented with DHA performed better on a cognitive test than infants who were given formula without it. DHA occurs naturally in breast milk.

    But while doctors say the evidence may support formula containing a DHA supplement over formula without one, they are concerned that the study may be the first test toward marketing a replacement for breast milk. The formula used in the study was provided to the researchers by a manufacturing company for free.

    A woman is shown breast-feeding her child, left, and another giving her baby a bottle with formula.

    One pediatrician notes that in her own practice, some mothers are convinced that formula with DHA can be superior to breast milk.

    The marketing has actually dissuaded mothers from choosing exclusive breast-feeding, which is preferred from all the outcomes that we understand.

    Simply adding DHA -- while it may top other infant formula -- would not make it superior to breast milk.

    There are many other factors in human milk that also support neurocognitive development and visual acuity.

    It is clear that the food industry fascination with nutraceuticals （strategically fortified food products） is now spreading into infant formula. This is a disturbing new development. Now parents will be encouraged to forego breast-feeding -- which is optimal for both mothers and babies -- in favor of a hyped up infant formula.

    Breast milk has other benefits not related to mental development. Breast-feeding confers protection against infection, including viral infections, and the CDC promotes breast-feeding to confer maximal protection against swine flu and other infections.

    Furthermore, because infants who display superior performance on the means-end problem solving task tend to have superior IQ and vocabulary later in childhood, it's possible that the beneficial effects of DHA extend well beyond infancy.

    In the contentious field of breast-feeding, sharp replies to anything suggesting a replacement for breast milk are almost inevitable.

    食用補充了二十二碳六烯酸配方奶粉的嬰兒，在認知能力測試上的表現要比食用不含此類物質的嬰兒更好。二十二碳六烯酸天然存在于母乳中。

    但是，盡管醫生表明，這一證據可以支持包含二十二碳六烯酸增補劑的配方奶粉優于不含該物質的配方奶粉的說法，他們仍然擔心這項研究可能成為市場營銷母乳替代品的第一次試驗。研究中使用的配方奶粉是由一家生產企業免費提供給研究人員的。

    顯示一名婦女正在哺乳自己的孩子，左邊，另一名婦女正用奶瓶給她的孩子喂配方奶粉。

    一位兒科醫生指出，在她自己的實踐中，一些母親確信含二十二碳六烯酸的配方奶粉可能優于母乳。

    這一市場營銷實際上勸阻了母親們選擇獨一無二的母乳喂養方式，這一優于我們了解的所有研究成果的方式。

    僅僅添加二十二碳六烯酸――盡管可能優于其它的嬰兒配方奶粉――并不能使它優于母乳。

    人奶中有很多其它因素還可以促進神經認知能力的發展和視覺敏銳性。

    很顯然，伴隨著營養食品（戰略性強化食品）而來的食品工業的魅力正在蔓延到嬰兒配方奶粉上來。這是一個令人不安的新的發展。現在家長們會被鼓勵放棄母乳喂養--它對母親和嬰兒都有好處--用方興未艾的嬰兒配方奶粉代替。

    母乳還有與智力發育無關的其它方面的好處。母乳育嬰可提供防感染保護，包括病毒感染，并且疾病預防控制中心大力推進母乳喂養，以便為預防豬流感及其他傳染病提供最大的保護。

    此外，由于那些在"手段--目的"類問題解決任務上表現優秀的嬰兒往往在兒童期后期具有較高的智商和詞匯量，二十二碳六烯酸的有利影響可能遠遠超過嬰兒時期。

    在有爭議的母乳喂哺領域，不贊成任何替代母乳的建議幾乎是不可避免的。