Here's my .02 for USA Today -- with thanks for the motivation to get the letter
written to Marsha, Kathy and Diana Dietz.

Letters-to-the-Editor
USA Today
c/o: [log in to unmask]

December 11, 1995

Dear Letters Editor:

I was concerned to read that women who bottle-feed their infants are filled
with guilt ["In A Reversal, Bottle-Feeding Gets A Bad Rap," December 5,
1995].  Guilt is a mental obsession with the idea of having done wrong.  A
more productive emotion would be anger  -- anger at a culture that
underrates and undervalues breastfeeding so much that it withholds
information, support, and a commitment to it -- in spite of compelling
evidence of its superiority for infant health.

Artificially-fed babies get sick more often, get sicker, and die more
frequently than breastfed infants -- regardless of the socioeconomic status
of the family.  If every mother in this country breastfed for just twelve
weeks, the infant mortality rate would drop by 5% and the direct health
care savings alone would be $2-4 billion annually.

Just as we go out of our way to ensure use of child seats and safety caps
to safeguard our nation's children, we should be going out of our way to
ensure that every child gets the best start in life.  Infant feeding is not just

the lifestyle issue you portray, it is a public health issue of utmost
importance.

Sincerely,


Dia L. Michels
co-author: Milk, Money & Madness: the culture and politics of breastfeeding

532 9th Street, SE
Washington, DC  20003
202-547-3598
202-546-2356-fax
[log in to unmask]