My wife is a physician. We are extremely health conscious when it comes to the food our daughter consumes. My wife breast fed our daughter for the first few weeks and then, the milk stopped. We hired a consultant to come in to our home and help and took some pretty extreme measures to avoid formula. It was really hard on her, but ultimately we had to use it. -albeit an organic version. I forget the name. My daughter is extremely bright, aware and her vocabulary for a 2.5 year old is staggering. She's in no danger of ever being obese due to her beginnings with formula. My guess is that most women that resort to formula do so out of convenience. Even a working mother can pump, but it's extremely inconvenient. The mothers that do pump are highly motivated to provide the best care/nourishment for their child. My guess is that this care spills in to their future diet and their future cognitive development. I would guess (lot's of guessing, I know) that it's the motivation of the mothers that is the driving force behind both the positive outcomes of breastfeeding and it's the lack of motivation which leads to obesity and a lesser cognitive development. I would think that the actual formula has less to do with these negative outcomes than the conditioning of the parent. edit: Also, if we want to combat obesity and increase cognitive development I think there are better places to start than breastfeeding.If we really want to fight obesity and improve our children's future this is the place to start.