This is what I just sent to the Newborn Channel. I copied several Board
members of Lamaze International, Anne Merewood, and Marsha Walker.
- Linda J. Smith
Missey Moe-Cook
Vice President
Professional Relations
iVillage Integrated Media
(203) 559-3657
[log in to unmask]
Dear Ms. Moe-Cook,
Formula ads on the Newborn Channel are inappropriate and undermine the
published public health goals for the United States. I urge you to bring
your media into compliance with the International Code of Monitoring of
Breastmilk Substitutes. Please do this, not because the Code is the law of
the land (at least not yet), but because it is the right thing to do. I
noticed that your e-mail address is "@Lamaze.com." Lamaze International has
also endorsed the Code, and has discontinued all advertising of formula to
the public. You are also violating Lamaze advertising policy by including
these ads.
Direct marketing of infant formula, bottles and teats (nipples) to the
public and other unethical marketing strategies (as outlined in the Code)
are well-documented strategies that undermine breastfeeding. Substantial
rigorous research supports that formula-fed children are sicker, dumber, and
fatter. Or, if you prefer to think of formula feeding as "normal," breastfed
children are healthier, smarter, and leaner. Clearly, formula feeding is not
an advantage to the infant. I would be delighted to send you a wheelbarrow
full of scientific articles supporting these facts.
Our US national health goals are to increase breastfeeding, not to undermine
it. The Surgeon General's new Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding
(http://www.4woman.gov/Breastfeeding/index.htm) and Protecting, Promoting,
Supporting Breastfeeding in the United States: A National Agenda recently
released by the United States Breastfeeding Committee
(http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/StratPlan.html) both discuss formula
marketing as a significant barrier to breastfeeding. As far back as 1990,
the Call to Action: Better Nutrition for Mothers, Children and Families
(DHHS, Maternal and Child Health Bureau) called for establishment of a US
Code. Selling Out: Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes in the USA (NABA,
2001; [log in to unmask]) further documents the widespread, unethical
marketing of formula in the US.
The Newborn Channel broadcasts a far higher quality of programming than
commercial television. I hope that your ethics are better, too. I would hate
to see the Newborn Channel appear in the next edition of Selling Out.
Please remove the ads for infant formula from the Newborn Channel
immediately.
Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre www.bflrc.com
6540 Cedarview Ct., Dayton, OH 45459-1214 USA
(937) 438-9458 email [log in to unmask]
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