In a message dated 4/27/0 11:15:31 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< This is what
they say:  although we know it's not an equal choice if we eliminate
formula we risk infant health even further because what seems logical to
you and I (ie: they will just have to buy their own formula) doesn't
happen.  In reality what happens is mom's substitute even more inferior
products such as giving koolaid and colas and using regular milk or
perhaps buying the formula but diluting incorrectly to STRETCH it.  This
my dear friends is the reality..certainly we can't risk that happening
again (when WIC first came into being this is what was happening in these
low income communities).  Perhaps though they were not educated that they
could produce the absolute best for their babies for FREE!  I wonder if
it would happen again if all formula was withdrawn or if with counseling
mom's would opt to breastfeed..hmmmmmm?
 >>

I know this is a fairly old thread, but some issues came to mind that might
broaden the debate. When I ran an inner-city, clinic-based peer counseling
program, I often went into the homes of Latino and African-American families.
As we all know, WIC gives out loads of cow's milk for free. The implication
is that this is a healthy food and families should make sure their children
get plenty. If the children or adults did not like cow's milk, the solution
was to load it with artificially-flavored drink mixes to *get it down*. Many
of the members of these families suffered from serious cow's milk allergies,
but believed that this free food had to be consumed. The concern that not
giving ABM will cause malnutrition (I contend that AF babies are malnourished
anyway) has the flip side. Any "food" product given for free carries the
implication that it is *needed* for good health. We also often saw bf mothers
giving ABM "to make sure their babies got all their nutrition", b/c they
believed that if it was given, then it was needed. They sometimes perceived
it as vitamins to "add" to bf. Mothers would often tell nurses in the
hospital they planned to AF and then proceeded to do so in hospital, when
they actually planned to bf. They would wait until they were home to bf, for
fear they would not get "their free milk". You can imagine what this did to
those mothers' milk supplies and bf in general. Also, mothers who might water
down ABM without free handouts do it already, b/c they often do not get
enough ABM and in some cases they trade it or sell it (not necessarily for
"bad" things either). I really believe this system keeps poor babies on
artificial feeds rather than rescuing them from being malnourished.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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