http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/7438992.htm
Posted on Mon, Dec. 08, 2003
Dispute over tone delays ad push for breast-feeding
Critics said the government-funded spots focused too much on unproven
risks rather than benefits.
By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer
A government-funded advertising campaign to encourage breast-feeding is
being toned down and postponed amid criticism that the ads make unproven
medical claims and use scare tactics.
The leading critics are the makers of infant formula, a multibillion-
dollar industry. Complaints also have come from officials at the American
Academy of Pediatrics, a group that staunchly promotes breast-feeding and
drew fire in 1997 for urging new mothers to commit to the practice for at
least a year.
At issue is the tone, not the intent, of the public service campaign,
which is underwritten by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
All sides agree that breast-feeding is best, but there is sharp
disagreement about whether to market it with positive or negative claims,
and about the scientific basis for those claims.
"We're very committed to this campaign and to doing it right," HHS
spokeswoman Christina Pearson said. "Doing it right means basing it on the
best science."
Originally, the ads focused on "the risks associated with not breast-
feeding," according to a recent announcement on the Web site of the Ad
Council, a nonprofit group working with the government to develop the TV,
radio and print campaign.
The ads, which were expected to begin running this month, cited statistics
from studies that found formula-fed babies had higher risks of developing
problems including obesity, asthma, diabetes, leukemia and other illnesses.
The Ad Council said one proposed spot would show a pregnant woman on a
mechanical bull or roller-skating, with the caption or voice-over: "You'd
never take risks while you're pregnant. Why start when the baby's born?"
The International Formula Council, a trade group of the world's major
formula makers, quickly registered objections, saying the ads
would "mislead and frighten parents."
"There are numerous benefits to breast-feeding and we believe that a
national campaign should focus on those benefits. However, the campaign
proposed... took a negative approach and focused on alleged risks of not
breast-feeding, which are not scientifically justified," the council said.
Those sentiments were echoed by Joe Sanders Jr., executive director of the
American Academy of Pediatrics, and Carden Johnston, its president, in
letters they sent last month to HHS.
Other prominent pediatricians and breast-feeding advocacy groups rushed to
defend the proposed ads, illustrating the complexity of the controversy.
Dr. Lawrence M. Gartner, chairman of the American Academy of Pedatrics'
Section on Breastfeeding, wrote to HHS: "We enthusiastically urge that the
plans for release of the... campaign be kept on schedule and that the
content and message not be weakened."
Last week, HHS official Kevin Keane met with breast-feeding experts who
have served as consultants to the campaign to talk about softening it.
"They want to look again at the science and research behind the ads," said
Marsha Walker, a nurse and member of the five-year-old U.S. Breastfeeding
Committee, a group of health professionals involved in developing the
ads. "They probably will not use the risk statistics."
HHS spokeswoman Pearson would not speculate yesterday about when the
revised campaign would be launched.
Medical science, once dismissive of the importance of breast-feeding, has
produced a growing body of research on its benefits.
However, some findings are controversial and inconsistent, such as the
link between breast-feeding and juvenile diabetes or childhood cancers,
including leukemia.
There is stronger evidence that breast-feeding for six months after birth
decreases babies' risks of diarrhea, ear infections and allergies.
Perhaps the most solidly proven benefits are not part of the ad campaign:
the longer a woman breast-feeds, the more she lowers her risk of ovarian
and breast cancer.
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Contact staff writer Marie McCullough at 215-854-2720 or
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