Wanted to let all U.S. LCs know about the Healthy People 2010 meeting I
attended in Chicago on November 5, 1998.  I heard the Surgeon General,
David Satcher speak and was encouraged by his emphasis on
prevention, but he did not mention breastfeeding as a way to give
children a good start in life.  Furthermore, when I attended the session
which asked for input on what should be leading health indicators for the
nation, I was very disappointed.  The LLL representative got up and
asked that breastfeeding be one of these, explaining briefly how
breastfeeding fulfills all the listed requirements.  The moderator quickly
stated that breastfeeding was "too parochial" to be used as a leading
health indicator.  I got the feeling that many of the policy writers (these
people have a LOT of influence) in DHHS and CDC are not aware of the
benefits of breastfeeding and the extent to which breastfeeding is
beneficial to normal growth and development both to the infant, the
mother and society.  We need to do some serious educating.  I intend to
write a letter to Dr. Satcher.  One of the issues he is very interested in is
"disparity of care/health."  I'd like to use James Grant's quote about how
a poor infant and rich infant are equally healthy if breastfed.  Does
anyone remember the quote and can you e-mail me the exact quote?
You can e-mail me to [log in to unmask]  Thanks

Ann Twiggs, RD, LD, IBCLC
Columbus, Ohio USA, The heart of it all (midwest)