According to the terms of republication, I can post the full text of this
article on my own website.  Since this is the closest thing I have to a
website of my own, I'm posting it here, after removing the space between
breast and feeding which for some reason is how BMJ thinks it is written.
It's only my not so humble opinion, certainly not a scholarly work, and I
made good use of the material in the Malta Breastfeeding Foundation's
powerpoint presentation, which had only come out a couple of weeks
previously.  The link to that powerpoint is included in my letter.  
So far there has been one response to the letter, from a breastfeeding
mother who points out that breastfeeding isn't free.  She goes on to list
all the paraphernalia she needed to buy in order to breastfeed, to show how
much it cost her.  I wouldn't ever claim that breastfeeding is free, but
even with the expenses she lists, breastfeeding comes out with a lighter
environmental and economic trail than artificial feeding.  I found it
disturbing that all the mothers she knew, needed to make similar purchases
in order to breastfeed their children.  It points up for me the importance
of having physical and financial distance between those helping mothers with
breastfeeding and those selling various supplies and aids for problematic
breastfeeding.  I don't want any woman to doubt my motives if I recommend a
technical solution to her problem.
Please note that I do not have the right to give permission for this to be
re-published anywhere else, as that rests with the journal itself, but since
it is in the Lactnet archives it may be freely read by anyone with internet
access.
  
Letters to the BMJ
BMJ  2008;336:1454 (28 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.39619.618356.3A

Breastfeeding tackles both obesity and climate change
By enabling more women than currently do so to exclusively breastfeed their
children for the first six months of life, we could reduce the number of
children requiring attention for overweight.1  There would be less need for
the diversion of foodstuffs through dairy animals to produce breastmilk
replacements, and less need for the use of materials and energy to fuel the
processes required to modify, package, and distribute animal milk to make it
less unsafe for human infants. Breasts do not require scrupulous washing
with detergents in hot water between feeds. Families would have more of
their income available to purchase better food for their older members, many
nations would be less reliant on the import of essential foodstuffs, and
population fertility would be reduced when fewer children are weaned from
the breast prematurely. The additional solid waste burden resulting from
artificial feeding would be nearly eliminated, from agricultural pollution,
cartons and tins, right down to fewer nappies and pads to absorb menstrual
flow, since artificially fed children produce more faeces and urine and
their mothers resume menstruation sooner than if they were breastfeeding.

The indirect effects of measures to achieve current international
goals—exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and the safe use of
adequate weaning foods over the next couple of years—would be a reduction in
many conditions currently burdening the healthcare systems to a greater
degree in all societies where artificial feeding still dominates. These
conditions, too numerous to list in their entirety here, range from serious
infectious disease in young babies to osteoporosis in older women.

The Malta Breastfeeding Foundation made a downloadable presentation on the
occasion of World Environment Day (5 June) about infant feeding and the
environment. It is freely available at
www.babymilkaction.org/pdf/mbfwed08.pps.

Rachel Myr, midwife
Sørlandet sykehus, Kristiansand, Norway 

References:
1. Dobson R. Obesity and climate change could be tackled together. BMJ
2008;336:1333. (14 June.) doi:10.1136/bmj.39605.555081.DB[Free Full Text]

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome