>
>
>I would slightly modify Jay's great lines from: "The campaign promotes =
>the best possible health for babies. Breastfeeding is the best and =
>choosing formula endangers babies..." to "The campaign promotes normal =
>health and development for babies. Breastfeeding is the foundation of =
>biologically normal health and development and choosing formula =
>endangers babies..."
>
>Every time we say something like "breastfeeding is best" we are =
>implicitly holding formula feeding as the norm.
>
This has been said and explained in the same words so many times that I
am starting to find it prescriptive, contrary to all kinds of
rhetorical, philosophical and  ideological premises of discourse.

Every time I read this, I wonder why people confuse the meaning of
"best"  and "better." Yes, better *can* suggest a norm, but doesn't have
to. Comparatives sometimes imply a point of reference, an answer to the
question of "better than what?" and the "what" would be something that
was clearly set in people's mind (a common, ordinary thing). On the
other hand, comparatives are also used to compare just two things. In
this case, "Breastfeeding is better" and "formula feeding is worse" are
compatible, logical statements.

"Best" does nothing of the sort. Superlatives are used to reflect a
position at the highest point. There need to be at least three things
measured (properly speaking, you can't have an "oldest" and a "youngest"
if you have only two children, you use the comparative forms). "Best"
means something is at the highest point of goodness, at the top of some
scale that has a positive value at the top and a negative value at the
bottom.  Presumably, this is the scale of infant feeding possibilities,
but it can also be that parenting practices, health outcomes, etc. These
scales don't have norms. Formula feeding, therefore, isn't the norm. The
statement itself does not suggest anything about where formula feeding
is placed on the scale, except that it is not at the top (there is only
one best, that's breastfeeding). It would be entirely consistent to use
this kind of language to reflect our belief that formula feeding is at
the very bottom of the scale: Breastfeeding is best; formula feeding is
worst. In between, there might be EBM-feeding, donor milk, mixed
feeding, cow's milk, goat's milk. As you can see, we may not be able to
agree on the hierarchy.

I would argue that there is nothing wrong with saying that
"Breastfeeding is best," although I would suggest we articulate the
scale explicitly:  "Breastfeeding is the best infant feeding method."
"Breastfeeding is the best way to feed your baby."

More next post.

Jo-Anne Elder-Gomes, PhD



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