I know I've heard somewhere that breastfeeding reduces the risk of
osteoporosis -- aha, found it.  It's in the *wonderful* little flyer
produced by Dia Michaels and Naomi Baumslag to advertise their new book.
The book is titled "Milk, Money, & Madness: The Culture and Politics of
Breastfeeding," to be published in October, 1995 by Bergin and Garvey.  The
flyer is titled "Test your Breastfeeding IQ" and includes sections on: Do
you need breasts to breastfeed?, Is breast milk "green"? [in the ecological
sense], How long should you breastfeed?, Is breastfeeding that important?,
Can you get pregnant when you're breastfeeding?, What ever happened to
wet-nurses?, Is breastfeeding just for the baby?, Do you need big breasts to
breastfeed?, Do you have a baby to breastfeed?, Why is formula so expensive?
and Isn't formula always available in this day & age?

I'm going to write Dia tomorrow and ask to order more of these.  They would
be PERFECT for casually leaving around in doctors' offices, hair dressers,
anywhere people have to wait and usually end up reading 3 year old Golf
Digests.  The flyer says for further information, write:

Naomi Baumslag and Dia Michels
c/o WIPHN
7100 Oak Forest Lane
Bethesda, MD 20817
ph. (301) 469-9210
fax (301) 469-8423

Back to the osteoporosis question, the research on menopause
cross-culturally has shown that women in "traditional" societies often do
not have osteoporosis, and that has been linked to their high levels of
physical activity throughout life and their diets low in protein and fat
(thus, diets high in protein and fat, and lives of sloth are risk factors of
osteoporosis).  The research also suggests that for the same level of
osteoporosis they don't have anywhere near the same number of fractures, so
more is involved in the high fracture rate of Western women with
osteoporosis than just the osteoporosis.  This research in reviewed in an
excellent article on menopause by Lynette Leidy, an anthropologist at U
Mass. Amherst, published in "Annual Reviews of Anthropology" in 1994.



Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Texas A&M University
e-mail to [log in to unmask]