The December issue of the American Journal of Public Health has an
article by Jacqueline H. Wolf, PhD (with the Department of Social
Medicine, Ohio University, Athens).   The article is "Low Breastfeeding
Rates and Public Health in the United States".  Here is the link to the
journal, http://www.ajph.org/current.shtml

Abstract
The medical community has orchestrated breastfeeding campaigns in
response to low breastfeeding rates twice in US history. The first
campaigns occurred in the early 20th century after reformers linked
diarrhea, which caused the majority of infant deaths, to the use of
cows' milk as an infant food.

Today, given studies showing that numerous diseases and conditions can
be prevented or limited in severity by prolonged breastfeeding, a
practice shunned by most American mothers, the medical community is
again inaugurating efforts to endorse breastfeeding as a preventive
health measure.

This article describes infant feeding practices and resulting public
health campaigns in the early 20th and 21st centuries and finds lessons
in the original campaigns for the promoters of breastfeeding today.

Mary Pesik, RD, CLE, CD
Wisconsin WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator
"Loving Support Makes Breastfeeding Work"

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