Many moms today are under the false impression that formula is an acceptable substitute for breast milk. The overwhelming evidence proves breast milk is a far superior baby food and the casual use of formula is detrimental to the health of moms, babies and the environment. Formula use has become a global problem and the World Health Organization (WHO) is striving to educate women (especially the poor) about the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Regardless of where we live or our own economic status, the cost of formula goes way beyond the check out counter. Higher health care premiums, a less healthy population and greater environmental impact will burden us, and our children for years to come (an estimated $3.6 billion in medical expenses would be saved each year if 50% of babies were breastfed for the first 6 months of life). The benefits of breastfeeding are lifelong, your child will have fewer illness, prescriptions and hospitalizations. Breast milk is a dynamic fluid and will change as your baby grows, giving her exactly what her developing body needs.

All the building blocks for maximum brain and eye development are contained in breast milk so your child will reach his highest potential. Many formulas claim to have the same brain/eye boosting compounds. There is no research supporting artificial DHA has the same effect, a baby’s immature stomach may not have the ability to even absorb the synthetic version.

The United States is successfully educating families about the benefits of breast milk and our rates of breastfeeding are increasing. However, this is not the case in other countries. Unethical advertising by formula companies is on the rise in developing countries as the $1.6 billion per year infant formula industry searches for new markets.

Consider that worldwide over 1 million babies die each year due to “incorrect feeding practices”. Most of these deaths are related to formula feeding and completely preventable by breastfeeding. Contaminated water used to mix formula, wash bottles and nipples makes a baby 25 times more likely to die of chronic severe diarrhea than a breastfed baby. Mothers in developing countries may not have the resources to feed formula at the correct strength and may dilute it to make a can last longer. Mothers even use powdered coffee creamer if they cannot purchase formula. The Philippines has the highest rate of formula feeding in the world at 84%. One in three Filipino babies is malnourished at 1 year and 16,000 die each year due to nutritional deficiencies. When all these facts are viewed together it is difficult to imagine why any mother would choose to feed her baby an inferior and possibly dangerous food. The sad reality is- the poor and undereducated are targeted by formula companies. In America misleading advertisements feature happy infants and boast of “brain building nutrients”. In the Philippines and Africa, ads lead mothers to believe breast milk is inferior and their bodies will not produce enough milk to nourish a child. Families are bombarded with these messages and soon take them as factual, not advertisements.

Even more disturbing is the behavior of the healthcare providers in the hospital setting in some developing countries. Formula companies distribute their product to maternity wards to feed newborns. Mothers are separated from their babies and when they want to breastfeed, they are told the baby has already been fed formula. Families are then sent home with samples of formula. If mothers use the samples instead of breastfeeding, her milk supply will decrease and she will have the low milk supply mentioned in the ads, making her feel unable to adequately nourish her baby. The free samples run out and she must now purchase formula.Health officials in the Philippines recently attempted to curb the influence of formula companies by prohibiting product samples and advertising. Unfortunately, a few large US companies felt this would hurt their revenue (Wyeth, Novartis, Mead Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and others). They lobbied against the baby friendly legislation through the US Embassy and Chamber of Commerce. A watered down version of the “Philippines Milk Code” was eventually passed into law in October 2007.

Here in the United States, our own government is not immune from the influence of formula companies on public policy. In 2004 the Department of Human Services commissioned an attention getting ad campaign to convince mothers that their babies faced real health risks if they did not breastfeed. The ads featured insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with nipples. Plans to run these blunt ads infuriated the politically powerful infant formula industry, which hired a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former top regulatory official to lobby the Health and Human Services Department. Not long afterward, department political appointees toned down the campaign.

The ads ran instead with more friendly images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops, to dramatize how breast-feeding could help avert respiratory problems and obesity. The lobbyists told then-HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson they were "grateful" for his staff's intervention to stop health officials from "scaring expectant mothers into breast-feeding," and asked for help in scaling back more of the ads.

Unfortunately, it is clear that a corporation’s profits are paramount to an infant’s survival and subsequent quality of life for many wealthy and powerful people in the US and world wide.

The disturbing truth about infant formula causes us to ask ourselves what we can do to help. There are many simple things we can do:

1. Always vote with your dollars, continue to boycott Nestle, one of the worst unethical formula advertisers.
2. Advocate for the rights of breastfeeding women in your workplace and women that need to breastfeed in public places.
3. Ask if businesses you patronize are mother-friendly employers. If not, encourage them to learn more and support every breastfeeding employee in their choice to work and breastfeed.
4. Educate men and women around you about the benefits of breast milk; encourage them to educate themselves about this important global health issue.
5. If you have a baby, please breastfeed until his first birthday.
6. If you have a surplus of breast milk stockpiled, donate to the International Breast Milk Project to help African infants orphaned by poverty or disease.
7. Find out if the hospitals in your area are “Baby Friendly” (as designated by WHO/UNICEF). Check out http://www.babyfriendly.org for a list of baby friendly hospitals, what it means to be baby friendly and how your hospital can comply with the 10 steps to encourage breastfeeding.

The use of infant formula, except in emergency situations, should be avoided. The health risks of formula are real, and breast milk is the closest thing to a true miracle food we know of. Families need to be aware of the unethical behavior by formula companies and the damage caused by depriving babies of breast milk.

When mothers learn the truth about breast milk, they will begin trusting their own bodies to nourish their babies. They will stand up for their right to breastfeed and the right of their baby to a happy and healthy life.