Did anyone else see this?  It was sent to me by a colleague.  Note that it
is from last September.  Any of our London or Scottish LactNetters know
anything about this guy?

>WORKING MOTHERS "THREATEN FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE"
>
>
>BY SHIRLEY ENGLISH    THE LONDON TIMES  12 SEPTEMBER 1996
>
>
>Changes in the way women are bringing up their children could threaten the
 future health of the human race, according to a European child health
>expert.  Working mothers who leave their babies with childminders and use
powdered artificial feed are undermining millions of years of evolution
designed to promote survival.  The dramatic change in patterns of child
rearing during the past 100 years, particularly in the West, has already
shown signs of stunting children's intellectual  and physical development,
claims Professor Forrester Cockburn, president of the European  Association
of perinatal medicine, which is holding a conference in Glasgow this week.
Professor Cockburn, vho is head of the department of child health at Glasgow
University, is examing the relationship between baby-feeding and the
chemical development of the brain.  He claims that studies show that using
"dead" powdered milk rather than "living" breast milk stunts the brain's
growth, resulting in lower IQs,
>sight problems and a child being more prone to serious illness, such as heart
>disease in later life.  Breast milk is a complex formula that has evolved
over millions of years.  Its active enzymes, amino acids, minerals and fatty
acidss are crucial to a child's development. Professor Cockburn says.  The
development is finely tuned that mother's milk contains specific antibodies
to protect the newborn from illnessesunique to their environment.  A woman
in southern India, for example, will have antibodies and protective cells in
her milk to tackle viruses and bacteria in South India, while a woman in
Glasgow will have a different set, Professor Cockburn claims.  In addition,
research in America has exposed links between a working mother's more
distant relationship with her bottle-fed baby and the potential for
emotional and behavioural problems later.
> Professor Cockburn said: "A mother breast-feeding, with a supportive
>family structure around her, that is the way the human species has evolved.
> The changes happening now are not good. " He added that people who thought
>he was wrong should look at the evidence.  He argues that research is need
to look at the the effects of current changes in the way we bring up our
children. He would also like to see studies into good practice in countries
such as Sweden, where women are allowed up to two years off work after
giving birth. "I think the UK's arrangements for women in the first year of
a baby's life are very primitive," he said. "We need to make it acceptable
and possible for women to have a longer time with their child after birth:
one or two years."
>Scientific progress, which now makes it viable for premature babies to
>survive at 24 weeks, has also led to a greater liklihood of children being
>born with disabilities and learning difficuties, he said.  According to
>research in Glasgow, some inner-city areas in Britain now have a premature
>birth rate equivalent to that in some of the worst parts of the developing
>world. In underprivileged areas of Glasgow, levels have reached 19 per cent,
> the African average, and almost three times the rate in Britain. The main
>causes are drugs, alcohol, poor nutrition and social condirions.
>
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University