As has been revealed by a recently undertaken Australian research, children who are breastfed for over 6 months might end up cutting back the risk of developing mental health problems later in life.

For the sake of study, experts from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth analyzed 2,366 children born to mothers who had enrolled in a pregnancy study in Western Australian state.

Each of the children went through periodic mental health check-ups, and researchers then reached the study's conclusion.

"Breastfeeding for a longer duration appears to have significant benefits for the onward mental health of the child into adolescence", said lead researcher Dr. Wendy Oddy.

Researchers discovered that breastfeeding might help babies’ combat stress better in later life, and may also signal a stronger bond between the mother and the child.

Details of the study have been published in The Journal of Pediatrics.