>>Further, I would say we need to look at how effective the
>>scare tactics have been for the other campaigns. If you think, for
>>one moment, that everyone in the US buckles kids in, wears a bike
>>helmet, and doesn't smoke... you are not living in the same country I
>>am, that's for sure.
First of all, educating parents about the proven risks of particular
behaviors is not a "scare tactic." That is the spin the formula
companies and their pediatric minions have decided to go with. Their PR
people have instructed them to "stay on message" every single time this
issue is discussed in the media by repeatedly referring to "scare
tactics."
And no one is going to claim that EVERYONE now uses a bike helmet or
seatbelt. To do so is a red herring and pretty much irrelevant from a
public health perspective. Plus, concentrating on the exceptions is
exactly what infant formula companies want people to do, as in "My
cousin's baby wasn't breastfed and he's healthy as a horse! My sister's
baby was breastfed and she's had ear infections every month since she
was born. Ergo, the research behind breastfeeding promotion is without
merit."
If you do look at population-wide compliance rates with regards to
other major public health campaigns in recent years directed at
influencing parental behaviors, you will see that they work. Many,
many, many more parents now strap babies in carseats, vaccinate, put
their babies down to sleep on their backs, and do not smoke while
pregnant. The success of these campaigns really isn't in any doubt.
In ending, here is my own anecdotal observation: my 8 year old daughter
was thrown off her pony a few weeks ago while going over a jump. Her
riding helmet probably saved her life. When we took her to the ER at
Children's Hospital to get looked over, the ER doc we saw commented
that ever since the major equestrian magazines have instituted a
voluntary rule that they will never run any photo of a kid on a horse
unless the photo depicts the kid wearing an ASTM rated helmet, he has
seen a notable decrease in the number of riding related head injuries.
Katie
=====
~Katie Allison Granju~My Home on the Web: http://www.locoparentis.blogspot.com/ ~
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
