Well, whadd’ya know? Formula advertising reduces breastfeeding rates.
A World Health Organization study in the Philippines has shown that mothers who have been influenced by advertisements or their doctors to use infant formulas are two to four times more likely to use those products. The study, published by the Social Sciences and Medicine Journal, also reported that mothers who saw ads for infant formula were “6.4 times more likely to stop breast-feeding babies within one year of age, a move that increases the risk of illness and death for the infant”–particularly in and among at-risk population groups.
See also my post Breastfeeding and Justice.
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