What Science Really Says About the Benefits of Breast-Feeding (and what the New York Times didn't tell you)

http://www.stats.org/stories/breast_feed_nyt_jun_20_06.htm

June 20, 2006 
Dr. Rebecca Goldin
Director of Research, Statistical Assessment Service,Assistant Professor, Mathematical Sciences, George Mason University 
Dr. Emer Smyth
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Univ. of Pennsylvania) 
Dr. Andrea Foulkes
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst

The Science Times section of the New York Times announced today that it had received more than 100 letters "pro and con" over its article "Breast-Feed or Else." Coverage of the reaction suggests that this is a controversial topic, with the Times acting as an honest broker; but when a newspaper compared cigarette smoking to using infant formula, we suspected that there's got to be something screwy with the science, which is, in fact, the case. By failing to take a thorough, critical look at the evidence for this new public health campaign, the Times has caused needless anguish to countless mothers.

(see link for very long article)

Janice Reynolds

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