An e-mail friend in Canada sent me this -- thought LactNetters would find it
interesting.  Wonder who pays this guy's salary -- can we guess??

>
>THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE CALGARY HERALD TODAY, IN THE "YOUR HEALTH"
>SECTION.
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---------------------------The NEXT BEST thing
>
>Sharon Adams Calgary Herald June 22, 1996
>
>New formulas ease pangs of guilt for mothers who can't breastfeed
>
>Mothers who cannot-or choose not- to breastfeed have a little less to feel
>guilty about these days with the advent of a new generation of infant
>feeding formulas.
>
>"I would really like to put the guilty feelings at ease, " said Dr. Claude
>Roy, former chair of the Nutrition Committee of the Canadian Pediatric
>Society. "Formulas these days...measure up to the benefits of human milk.
>This is a choice that can be made without feeling guilty about it."
>
>But breastfeeding is still best for baby, he said.
>
>Roy, who has a distinguished career in pediatric gastroenterology and wrote
>his first textbook on the subject, was in Calgary this week to discuss the
>ressearch behind the first of the new formulas, Similac Advance.
>
>Developed by Abbot Laboratories, Ross Products Division, the new formula has
>ingredients that duplicate the health benefits of human milk.
>
>"It's technically impossible" to duplicate human milk, Roy said, but five
>years of studies involving
>4,700 infants show the newest formula delivers "benefits closer to those
>identified with babies who have access to mother's milk."
>
>Where growth was once the object, said Roy, formula manufacturers are now
>cognizant of the need to support a baby's development through nutrition.
>
>Roy said tests showed the new formula has four significant benefits:
>
>* Test babies had fewer infections and episodes of diarrhea than babies on
>other formula. Similac Advance is fortified with nucleotides to the average
>levels present in human milk. Nucleotides act to mature the immune and
>digestive systems, important since infants in the first year of life face
>high risk of infection due to immaturity of these two systmes.
>
>* Visual, cognitive, and psycho-motor skills of babies fed Similac Advance
>was "indistinguishable" from babies reared on breast milk.
>
>* Babies on this formula absorb fat and calcium more completely. Fat is
>babies' principal source of energy and their bodies can't make some
>essential fatty acids, which must be gained by eating. Calcium absorption is
>important because babies need it to form bone in the fastest growth period
>of their lives.
>
>* The consistency of stool of babies fed this formula is like that of
>breastfed babies. Although Similac Advance is fortified with iron, like
>other formulas, it does not cause constipation.
>
>"The ideal is really human milk," said Roy. Science is not even close to
>duplicating human milk, or all of the micronutrients it contains, including
>hormones, growth factors and peptides.
>
>But the new formula will come closer than in the past, said Roy, who notes
>the great gains in breastfeeding since the 1970's have been slightly offset
>by recent social and economic pressures.
>
>Across Canada, 80 percent of moms use formula in the first year of their
>babies' lives.
>
>"It's hard for a mother to choose to breastfeed if she knows she needs to go
>back to work in six weeks," he said. Healthcare reform has also affected
>breastfeeding, because new mothers are released 24 to 36 hours following
>birth before they've had all the education and guidance necessary to succeed
>at it. (Calgary has in-home support programs for new moms.)
>
>The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends breastfeeding for at least the
>first year of life.
>
>END ARTICLE
>
>sidebar:  Breastfeeding Quick Facts
>
>* In Calgary, 85.5% of new mothers breastfeed, either solely or
>supplementing with formula, in the first week of baby's life. That drops to
>40.4 percent at 6 months, according to preliminary analysis of 1994 data by
>Calgary Health Services.
>*Mothers who solely breastfeed drops to 20.9 percent at 6 months from 64.9
>percent in the first week.
>*While the percentage of mothers choosing breastfeeding in other provinces
>has declined recently, there has been steady growth in Calgary.
>* Health officials say more than 90% of mothers can and should breastfeed.
>Benefits to baby are protection from diabetes, respiratory and
>gastrointestinal problems, along with increased immunity. Benefits for mom
>are convenience, lowered susceptibiliy to breast cancer, loss of more of the
>weight gained during the pregnancy, and lower grocery bills, since breast
>milk is free.
>*The new formula, Similac Advance, is available on supermarket shelves in
>Calgary now.
>*Advice about breastfeeding and formula feeding is available from public
>health nurses at Calgary HEalth Services district offices or by calling CHS
>nutrition program at 228-7420
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>---------------------------
>
>
>How about testing something?
>
>Phoning each of the public health offices, and getting help to make the
>choice to breastfeed, or
>formula feed, and seeing just how supportive they really are!!!!!
>

Does anyone know an e-mail address for this paper?  Or for Dr. Roy?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email: [log in to unmask]
Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352