Since I have had epidemiology up the wazoo, I sometimes forget how studies might appear at face value to others. When looking at race issues, I apply the same approach as James McKenna does to articles on infant deaths in parental beds. The flaw in all of those articles is that when a child dies in a crib, the cause of the death is investigated. When a child dies in the parents bed, it is the parent's bed that caused the death. This can often happen with articles on race. When a difference is found between races in a particular statisitic (e.g. lower death rates in VLBW African American infants vs. Caucasian infants) the potential reasons for that difference may not always be investigated. The very reasons for VLBW infants in African Americans may be quite different from those among Caucasian infants because of SES. For instance, some of those VLBW infants might be due to the increase in fertility treatments and higher order multiples (my NY bias is showing) which can only be afforded by higher income clients. That might make a difference in their survival rates compared to some other cause of VLBW. So, one needs to look very carefully at these broad based statements. Just to give another example, Kathleen Rasmussen's article on obesity and lower success in breastfeeding bears closer examination. Is it PCOS? Is it getting adequate help for positioning? The underlying reasons should be examined. Best regards, Susan E. Burger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html