If I understand the portions I have read of the discussion about the need
for references about the impact of commercial baby food advertising, the
following may be useful. The first was based on field research in the West
Indies at a time when advertising in the mass media had just come to an
end, so the residual effects were measurable, using similar methods to the
ones the companies themselves use in market research. The latter two are
based mainly on archival sources, newspaper advertising from developing
countries, advertising in medical journals, much of it historical, and baby
care pamphlets from the early 1970s for US mothers from industry and other
sources. Of particular interest may be what companies were saying to their
shareholders in the business literature and their own annual reports before
being subject to criticism. They commonly bragged about how they were
changing infant feeding practices, often through their contacts with the
health professions. Many citations from industries' own statements are
provided. They can be ordered for US 5 dollars each from Prof. Michael
Latham, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
14853, USA.

Greiner T and Latham M. The influence of infant food advertising on infant
feeding practices in St. Vincent. International Journal of Health Services
12:53-75, 1982.

Greiner T. Regulation and education: strategies for solving the bottle
feeding problem. Cornell International Nutrition Monograph Series No. 4,
1977.

Greiner T. The promotion of bottle feeding by multinational corporations:
how advertising and the health professions have contributed. Cornell
International Nutrition Monograph Series No. 2, 1975.


Ted Greiner, PhD
Senior Lecturer in International Nutrition
Unit for International Child Health, Entrance 11
Uppsala University
751 85 Uppsala
Sweden

phone +46 - 18 515198
fax   +46 - 18 515380

home phone +46 - 8 191397 (can be used as fax also)