I am reproducing below a news item on Global Health Now (Feb 2023)
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Baby formula companies use an arsenal of marketing tactics to “exploit parents’ emotions and manipulate scientific information” to increase sales, the Lancet 2023 Series on Breastfeeding finds.
https://www.thelancet.com/series/Breastfeeding-2023
The series, produced by 25 experts from 12 countries, finds that formula companies’ “predatory tactics” prevent millions of women from breastfeeding.
The result: Fewer than half of infants globally are breastfed as recommended, reports The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/feb/07/underhand-formula-m...
Manipulative messaging from formula marketing includes unsupported claims about formula, reports ABC, like:
• It alleviates fussiness, disrupted sleep, and other developmentally appropriate baby behaviors.
• It’s an “empowering” choice for working mothers without parental leave.
• It boosts brain development, with labels boasting of “neuro” and “IQ” benefits.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/baby-formula-milk-companies-exploit-parent...
Policy failures: Despite WHO’s voluntary international code prohibiting formula marketing, “widespread violation of the code persists.”
A push for change: The series’ authors appeal for an international treaty to regulate formula marketing and lobbying. They also call for societal shifts, like adequate maternity leave, to better support and enable breastfeeding.
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Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
