LLL in the USA

LLL in the USA WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK CELEBRATION

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La Leche League | Breastfeeding and Good Health | Infant Formula and Its Risks

La Leche League's Mission

Our Mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/mission.html?m=1,0,2

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LA LECHE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL

Is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Is an NGO in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Acts as a registered Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Is an accredited member of the US Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition.
Is a member of the Child Survival Collaborations and Resources Group (CORE).
Is a founding member of the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA).
Was instrumental in the development of the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners (IBLCE).

LA LECHE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL

is or has been a member, consultant, technical advisor, or affiliate of the following:

Healthy People 2010 Consortium
National Breastfeeding Promotion Consortium
National Perinatal Association
United States Working Group for the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
United States Breastfeeding Committee
Guatemalan National Commission on Breastfeeding
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health

http://www.llli.org/ed/brc.html?m=0,2,2

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Why is LLL Necessary?

Breastfeeding is an instinctual and natural act, but it is also an art that is learned day by day.
The reality is that almost all women can breastfeed, have enough milk for their babies and learn how to overcome problems both large and small. It is almost always simply a matter of practical knowledge and not a question of good luck.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/necessary.html

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The ideals and principles of mothering which are the foundation of LLLI beliefs are further developed in THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING, the most comprehensive handbook on breastfeeding and parenting ever published. It has provided needed answers to three generations of nursing mothers on every aspect of breastfeeding.

(From LLLI publication No. 300-17, "La Leche League Purpose and Philosophy.") http://www.llli.org/philosophy.html?m=1,0,1

BREASTFEEDING AND GOOD HEALTH

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The evidence on cancer as well as other diseases shows that sustained, exclusive breastfeeding is protective for the mother as well as the child.

PUBLIC HEALTH GOAL ~ The majority of mothers to breastfeed exclusively, for six months.

This is the first major report concerned with the prevention of cancer to make a recommendation specifically on breastfeeding, to prevent breast cancer in mothers and to prevent overweight and obesity in children. This recommendation has a special significance. While derived from the evidence on being breastfed, it also indicates that policies and actions designed to prevent cancer need to be directed throughout the whole life course, from the beginning of life.

World Cancer Research Fund Global Network/American Institute for Cancer Research p. 14
http://www.dietandcancerreport.org/downloads/summary/english.pdf

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The American Public Health Association (APHA) recently adopted the following policy:

Breastfeeding as a fundamental public health issue - Affirms that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life with continued breastfeeding for at least the first one or two years of life is the biological norm, and that all alternative feeding methods carry health risks in comparison, with rare exceptions. Recognizes that breastfeeding is viewed as a public health issue and insists that maternal and child and comprehensive public health policies include attention to breastfeeding protection, education, promotion and support. Identifies the exclusive breastfeeding rate as a leading health indicator in the goals of the nation. Denounces aggressive marketing of human milk substitutes, particularly in health care settings.

The American Public Health Association, 800 I Street, NW Washington, DC 20001-3710
http://www.apha.org/about/news/pressreleases/2008/2007policies.htm

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"Provide support to breastfeeding mothers throughout pregnancy, at delivery, during the postpartum period, and during at least the first 6 months of life."

City Health Information
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Vol. 27(3):17-24 March 2008
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/chi/chi27-3.pdf

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Q. Are there some things I can do to raise the IQ of my child?

A. Absolutely. ... During infancy one of the key boosts you can do for your child's IQ is breast feed. Breast fed babies grow up to be more intelligent adults than bottle fed babies. There is a substance in breast milk that helps myelinate the central nervous system faster. ... The substance, to date, has not been replicated in packaged baby formula. There are some new formulas out now which advertise they are adding this, but the research has been controversial as to whether or not they can really duplicate the action.

A Student's Brain: The Parent/Teacher Manual
Kathie F. Nunley, EdD, 2003, Morris Publishing, Kearney, NE
http://help4teachers.com/index.htm

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"Breastfeeding is the biological norm for mothers and babies. It is a relationship that provides stress reducing hormones to the mother as well as stimulation, connection, and protection from illness to the baby. It even feeds the baby."

Alice Martino Roddy, La Leche League Leader
Linden, Virginia

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"As long as you can - breastfeed! And get that protection into your child."

Dr. David Rose, Deputy Director, Maternal and Primary Care Administration, DC Department of Health
"Asthma and Allergies in Children" The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU American University Radio, April 5, 2007, http://www.wamu.org/programs/kn/07/04/05.php#13633

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"Breastfed babies are less likely to have certain cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adulthood than their bottle-fed counterparts, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2007."

Breastfeeding babies offers them long-term heart-health benefits, American Heart Association 11/05/2007, http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3050868

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Breastfeeding beneficial for development of gross motor skills

The protective effect of breastfeeding on the attainment of gross motor milestones is attributable to some component(s) of breast milk or feature of breastfeeding and is not simply a product of advantaged social position, education, or parenting style.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 3 September 2006, pp. e682-e689 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-3141)
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/118/3/e682

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Breastmilk Has More of the Good Things Babies Need

WIC Supplemental Nutrition Branch
California Department of Health Services
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor, State of California
S. Kimberly Belshé, Secretary, Health and Human Services
Sandra Shewry, Director, California Department of Health Services
http://www.wicworks.ca.gov/breastfeeding/ResourceDocs/Lego_417_poster_1005.pdf

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Breastfeeding is a natural sustainable resource and no doubt the best infant food in the world. It does not require the use of fertilizers or pesticides, growth hormones or antibiotics which would ultimately be passed along to baby.

Breastfeeding is Eco-Friendly, Jessica Gunsch, BellaOnline's Breastfeeding Editor
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art16877.asp

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Supply and demand
Evidence suggests more women are breast-feeding their children until they're toddlers and older -- and they're not just earth-mother stereotypes

By Barbara F. Meltz, Globe Staff | The Boston Glove, March 31, 2007
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/03/31/supply_and_demand/?page=1

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Breast feeding during the introduction of dietary gluten, and increasing duration of breast feeding were associated with reduced risk of developing Celiac Disease.

Effect of breast feeding on risk of coeliac disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies
A. K. Akobeng, A. V. Ramanan, I. Buchan, and R. F. Heller
Arch. Dis. Child., Jan 2006; 91: 39 - 43.
http://adc.bmjjournals.com/

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Children breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months of life had less risk of respiratory tract infection including pneumonia and recurrent otitis media than did children breastfed for 4 months.

PEDIATRICS Vol. 117 No. 2
February 2006, pp. 425-432 (doi:10.1542/peds.2004-2283)
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/117/2/425

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"Breastfeeding is a mother's gift to herself, her baby and the earth."

Pamela K. Wiggins
IBCLC, Author
www.breastfeedingbooks.com

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Patricia Buffler and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health performed a meta-analysis of the scientific literature to investigate the effect of short-term and long-term breastfeeding on the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Their results suggest a statistically significant protective effect for both short- and long-term breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding and the Risk of Childhood Leukemia
By EHP Environmental Health
Aug 30, 2005, 01:51
http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/Breastfeeding_and_the_Risk_of_Childhood_Leukemia.shtml

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"Breastfeeding is a natural safety net against the worst effects of poverty. If a child survives the first month of life, the most dangerous period of childhood, then for the next 4 months or so, exclusive breastfeeding goes a long way towards cancelling out the health difference between being born into poverty or being born into affluence. It is almost as if breastfeeding takes the infant out of poverty for those few vital months in order to give the child a fairer start in life and compensate for the injustices of the world into which it was born."

The late James P Grant, past Executive Director of UNICEF
http://www.greatergoodsa.co.za/causes/causedetail.jsp?cause_id=1000003894

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"Although the rate of breastfeeding initiation in the United States is near the national goal of 75%, at 6 and 12 months postpartum the rates of breastfeeding duration are still considerably below the national goals of 50% and 25%, respectively. In addition, rates of exclusive breastfeeding are low. Strenuous public health efforts are needed to improve breastfeeding behaviors, particularly among non-Hispanic black women and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups."

Breastfeeding Rates in the United States by Characteristics of the Child, Mother, or Family: The 2002 National Immunization Survey
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/115/1/e31

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"It is hip to NIP -- Nurse in Public."

Robert L. Jamieson, Jr.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Columnist
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/230375_robert28.html

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"While breastfeeding may not seem the right choice for every parent, it is the best choice for every baby."

Amy Spangler, President
Amy's Baby Company
http://www.amysbabycompany.com/

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Can Breastfeeding Prevent Illnesses? Research shows your child's immune system will not be fully mature for many years. While it is developing, he will be protected by being breastfed. His own immune system also develops more rapidly than does baby who is fed formula.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/FAQ/prevention.html

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"A study of Working Well Moms, CIGNA's corporate lactation program for employees who breastfeed, revealed a savings of $240 thousand annually in health care expenses for breastfeeding mothers and their children. In addition, a savings of $60 thousand annually is realized through reduced absenteeism among breastfeeding mothers at CIGNA. The study also found that pharmacy costs for breastfed children are lower, because they require 62 percent fewer prescriptions."

UCLA Study of CIGNA Corporate Lactation Program Proves that Helping Working Moms Breastfeed Is Good Business
http://cigna.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=114&item=335

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"It has been recently estimated that 3,564 of the world's children under 5 years of age die each day (1,301,000 each year*) from causes that are preventable by optimal breastfeeding. In addition, for every child who dies, hundreds of others are sick and miserable from illnesses preventable with optimal breastfeeding. These children are the world's future. Much is already known about how to achieve optimal breastfeeding and the time to act on this knowledge is NOW! Not to do so is inexcusable."

Jones, G, et al. Babies are born to be breastfed. It's too important not to! Lancet, 05, July, 2003.

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"Breast milk has the right temperature."

Fifty Good Reasons To Breastfeed
By Luis C. Ortiz, M.D.
Originally Printed in: I.C.P.A. Newsletter March\April 2000
http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/articles/childhood/fifty_reasons_to_breastfeed.htm

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"In keeping with the deep concern about increases in childhood obesity in the United States, the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) wishes to emphasize that breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and extended breastfeeding into the toddler years, may exert a small but positive influence in reducing the risk for obesity in childhood and later in life and thereby be of considerable importance in the role of nutrition in public health."

From the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) 2003
http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/Position-Statements/USBC-IOM-Obesity-Conf.pdf

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"Human milk is the preferred feeding for all infants, including premature and sick newborns. It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least the first 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired."

American Academy of Pediatrics Breastfeeding Policy Statement: Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk. PEDIATRICS Vol. 115 No. 2 February 2005, pp. 496-506 (doi:10.1542/peds.2004-2491)
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/pediatrics;115/2/496

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"Public health leaders say the weight of the scientific evidence for breast-feeding has grown so overwhelming that it is appropriate to recast their message to make clear that it is risky not to breast-feed."

Breast-Feed or Else By RONI RABIN
The New York Times June 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/health/13brea.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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"Children who attended day care at 6 months were less likely to have ever been breastfed (68.5%) and less likely to have been breastfed continuously or exclusively at each time point. Mothers of children who received WIC benefits during the first year of life were less likely to initiate or maintain breastfeeding than mothers who did not receive WIC benefits. Children enrolled in WIC were also less likely to be exclusively breastfed at all time points."

Breastfeeding Rates in the United States by Characteristics of the Child, Mother, or Family: The 2002 National Immunization Survey
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/115/1/e31

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"Breastfeeding longer than 3 months may protect against bed-wetting during childhood. Breast milk supplemented with formula did not make a difference in the rate of enuresis."

Breastfeeding During Infancy May Protect Against Bed-wetting During Childhood
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 1 July 2006, pp. 254-259 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2738)
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/118/1/254

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INFANT FORMULA AND ITS RISKS

Commercial hospital discharge packs are one of several factors that influence breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. The distribution of these packs to new mothers at hospitals is part of a longstanding marketing campaign by infant formula manufacturers and implies hospital and staff endorsement of infant formula. Commercial hospital discharge pack distribution should be reconsidered in light of its negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding.

Kenneth D. Rosenberg, Carissa A. Eastham, Lauren Kasehagen, and Alfredo P. Sandoval, Oregon Public Health Division
Infant Formula Marketing Through Hospitals: the Impact of Commercial Hospital Discharge Packs on Breastfeeding
AmJPublicHealth published January 2, 2008, 10.2105/AJPH.2006.103218 http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2006.103218v1

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"Infants who are not breastfed, for whatever reason, should receive special attention from the health and social welfare system since they constitute a risk group"

Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. p 10
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/New_Publications/NUTRITION/gs_iycf.pdf

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"Formula feeding is the longest lasting uncontrolled experiment lacking informed consent in the history of medicine."

Frank Oski, M.D., founder of the journal Contemporary Pediatrics
http://www.kellymom.com/writings/breastfeeding/bfquotes.html

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The truth is, breastfeeding is nothing more than normal. Artificial feeding, which is neither the same nor superior, is therefore, deficient, incomplete, and inferior.
[The mother] is less likely to use artificial milk just "to get him used to a bottle" if she knows that the contents of that bottle cause harm.

"Watch your language!":http://www.motherchronicle.com/watchyourlanguage.html
Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC
July-August edition of CCL
Family Foundations, 1996

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Newborn weight linked to obesity

Newborn babies who gain weight rapidly in the first week of life are more likely to become obese later on, US researchers believe. Breastfeeding may minimise the risk, the journal Circulation reported. All 653 people who took part in the study were formula fed when they were born in the 1970s and 1980s, and as such were more likely to put on weight than breastfed babies. And Rosie Dodds, of the National Childbirth Trust, said past studies had shown breastfeeding helped reduced the risk of obesity.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/4457417.stm
Published: 2005/04/18 23:07:54 GMT © BBC MMV

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While greater knowledge about human milk has helped scientists improve infant formula, it has become "increasingly apparent that infant formula can never duplicate human milk," write John D. Benson, Ph.D, and Mark L. Masor, Ph.D., in the March 1994 issue of Endocrine Regulations. "Human milk contains living cells, hormones, active enzymes, immunoglobulins and compounds with unique structures that cannot be replicated in infant formula."

FDA Consumer VOL. 30 No. 5 JUNE 1996. Isadora B. Stehlin
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/596_baby.html

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"Diabetes is less common among breast-fed children (6.9 and 30.1% among offspring of nondiabetic and diabetic women, respectively) than among bottle-fed children (11.9 and 43.6%, respectively)."

Pettitt DJ, Knowler WC. Long-term effects of the intrauterine environment, birth weight, and breast-feeding in Pima Indians. Diabetes Care 1998 Aug;21 Suppl 2:B138-41.

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"The risk of developing either diarrhea or ear infection increased as the amount of breast milk an infant received decreased."

A Longitudinal Analysis of Infant Morbidity and the Extent of Breastfeeding in the United States.1997. Paula D. Scariati, Laurence M. Grummer-Strawn and Sara Beck Fein. Pediatrics 99(6):e5 (Electronic Article)
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/ab-infan.html

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"Existing guidelines and regulations for evaluating the safety of conventional food ingredients (e.g., vitamins, minerals) added to infant formulas have worked well in the past; however, they are not sufficient to address the diversity of potential new ingredients proposed by manufacturers to develop formulas that mimic human milk and do not adequately address the uniqueness of infants and infant nutrition."

INFANT FORMULA: EVALUATING THE SAFETY OF NEW INGREDIENTS. REPORT BRIEF— MARCH 2004
Infant Formula: Evaluating the Safety of New Ingredients is available for sale from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth St. NW, Washington, DC 20001; call (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area), or visit the NAP's on-line bookstore at http://www.nap.edu. For more information about the Institute of Medicine, visit the IOM home page at http://www.iom.edu.

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"In news that may provide advocates of breast-feeding with yet more ammunition, researchers report today that soy-based infant formulas may impair the developing immune system. Infants drinking such formulas take in 10 times as much of an immune-suppressing, hormone-like compound as do adults eating a high-soy diet and 200 times as much as infants consuming breast milk or cow's milk. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, raise questions about the suitability of soy products for children."

Soy-Based Infant Formulas May Hinder Immune System. May 21, 2002. ScientificAmerican.com
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005DB4E-CE28-1CEA-93F6809EC5880000

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"Infants who were fed breast milk more than infant formula, or who were breastfed for longer periods, had a lower risk of being overweight during older childhood and adolescence."

Gillman MW, Rifas-Shiman SL, Camargo CA Jr, Berkey CS, Frazier AL, Rockett HR, Field AE, Colditz GA. Risk of overweight among adolescents who were breastfed as infants. JAMA 2001; 285: 2461-2467.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/285/19/2461

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"The practice of feeding babies infant formula, rather than breastmilk carries with it profound risks in modern, industrialized countries, as well as, in developing countries. While many are familiar with the well-publicized tragedies of formula-fed infants in developing countries, many are unaware of how the lack of breastmilk and the use of infant formula compromise the health and well being of children in the United States. These risks are well documented in the medical literature."

Breastfeeding Task Force of Greater Los Angeles. The Risks of Infant Formula Feeding: Selling Out Mothers and Babies - Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in the USA. 2003.
http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/ABMRisks.htm
http://www.breastfeedingtaskforla.org/resources/selling-usa.htm

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Warning: Public health officials have determined that not breast-feeding may be hazardous to your baby's health.

Breast-Feed or Else By RONI RABIN
The New York Times June 13, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/health/13brea.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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Non-profit Ties to Industry
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

Friends of Children Fund Annual Report, July 1, 1996 - June 30, 1997, indicates $2.085 million in funding from corporations. Donors include Procter & Gamble, Gerber, Infant Formula Council, McNeil Consumer Products Company, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products, Abbott Laboratories, Wyeth-Lederle Vaccine & Pediatrics, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, Schering Corp., Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Food Marketing Institute, Sugar Association, International Food Information Council, Merck Vaccine Division, and others.

Formula manufacturers donate $1 million annually to the American Academy of Pediatrics in the form of a renewable grant that has already netted the AAP $8 million. The formula industry also contributed at least $3 million toward the building costs of the AAP headquarters. (Mothering magazine, July-August, p.60; refers to a book Milk, Money and Madness by Naomi Baumslag and Dia L. Michels (Westport, Conn.: Bergin and Garvey, 1995, p. 172))

According to a New York Times article, the Ross Products Unit of Abbott Laboratories, the maker of Similac infant formula, purchased 300,000 copies of the AAP's New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding with Ross's logo and name on them. In addition, Ross, McNeil and Johnson & Johnson were the top three corporate supporters of the academy's $65 million operating budget...each giving $500,000 or more. (New York Times, 9/18/02, C1)

Non-Profit Organizations with Ties to Industry

Professional Associations, Charities, and Industry Front Groups
http://www.cspinet.org/integrity/Integrity_in_Science_organization_list.pdf

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"...routine artificial feeding - as distinct from an exceptional emergency nutrition intervention - is the height of society-wide irresponsibility."

James Akre, 2006 The Problem with Breastfeeding; A personal reflection, Hale Publishing, TX 2006