Lactnetters -- another post I sent to Rachael to forward to misc.kids in
light of responses she's been getting.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yet more from Dr. Dettwyler:

 Re the comments about "Well my kid was bottle-fed and he's perfectly
healthy"  --  you need to start thinking epidemiologically rather than
anecdotally.  Yes, of course, many many bottle-feeding kids will be fine,
and many many breastfeeding kids will be sick.  It's the overall frequency
of these diseases, or relative risk, that matters.  A good analogy is to
look at how teenagers talk about drinking and driving:  "Well, I drove drunk
last Saturday night and I didn't get killed."  Or "My friend was killed by
someone who ran a stop sign and that driver wasn't drunk."  Yes, yes, of
course, people drive drunk all the time and don't get in accidents, and many
people are killed by drivers who weren't drunk.  Nevertheless, it is still
the case that if you drive drunk you are MORE LIKELY to have an accident
than if you drive sober.  And of course many people survive car crashes even
if they don't wear their seat belts and a few people die because they
couldn't get their seat belts undone after an accident, nevertheless the
odds are that you are much safer wearing your seat belt.  I've worn my seat
belt for more than 25 years, every time I get in the car, and I've never
been in an accident at all, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop wearing
my seat belt.  If an adult doesn't want to wear his/her seat belt and dies
in a car crash, I won't feel too bad about it, but if a child dies in a car
crash because it was not restrained in a safety seat, that makes me angry on
the child's behalf, and most people would say the parents SHOULD feel
guilty.  It is the same with infant feeding choices -- we are making choices
that affect our children's lifelong health.  Ditto for smoking.  If you want
to smoke, be my guest (outside, please), but it makes me angry to see
parents puffing away in their infant's face.  If you want to get passing-out
drunk, or high on cocaine, it bothers me not as long as you don't get in
your car and drive.  But if you do it while pregnant, I think that's
reprehensible.

  We are NOT doctor-bashing in the sense of accusing doctors of not knowing
anything about breastfeeding -- they aren't taught it in medical schools, so
how could they?  We are doctor-bashing in the sense of accusing doctors of
putting their own greed before their patients' welfare, but this is hardly
NEWS to anyone.  There are many many fine doctors out there who support
breastfeeding, and some of them are even knowledgeable about it, but many
are not, and some are in the pocket of the infant formula companies.


        I have to go feed my horses and dogs/puppies now, but want to write
another post tomorrow following up on some of these ideas.  I appreciate
your willingness to carry the battle standard.

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Texas A&M University
co-editor of "Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives" and specialist in
infant feeding and growth
e-mail to [log in to unmask]