To call bollocks on this woman on bbc news...

[MadBannersAndCopPorn]

Being breast fed determines social class........ Okay

Well the professor (sp) didn't say anything about it helping people climb the social ladder, so... Bollocks

Robert wins ton just waffled about rodents and aggression and skin contact. Do ff babies have no skin contact then??

Haven't watched the clip, but they are probably talking about this study that came out yesterday.

Grrr

Correlation is not causation
Correlation is not causation....
Con brio

X posts with Kim.

Have you all read the report then?

Of the three women interviewed, the longest any had fed their child was 5 1/2 months. Fab achievement for her, but there are many many many people who go longer, so how does that represent both ends of the spectrum?!

You should be able to read the whole journal article by clicking on the link to the right . Next week there'll probably be some other research stating the opposite or something completely different.

Tis indeed bollocks.
Both my boys were breastfed. I had two operations on one breast, so by the time twins came along, I couldn't breastfeed.
Bollocks, indeed.

That irritated me too purple. It was dreadfully covered they need not have bothered. Why aren't they cove

Covering the Texas abortion story more instead of Judy Murray not dyeing her hair grrr.

If it's chances of moving upwards soverylucky then where exactly do you think William could go?

When I lived in the Highlands, I went to a toddler group where all the mums were pregnant and we all bf'd our babies. Seemed normal. I guess a lot of the mums were middle class hippies who had moved up from England.

I moved to a council estate in suburbs of Glasgow and was the only mum to bf at the toddler group. The other mums looked at me funny and wouldn't talk to me. I think it was because I was foreign, but the bf ing didn't help.

The article does seem to show some causation rather than just a correlation. The causation is supposed to be between changes in social class for people born in 1958 and 1970 (at which point, your father's or hunsband's occupation was generally used to determine your social class). The study shows that breastfed people in these cohorts were more likely to be upwardly mobile and less likely to be downward key mobile than those who were not breastfed.

However, it might not actually be relevant to contemporary formula feeding because (a) at that time people used all manner of milk (evaporated, cows, formula) to bottle feed and (b) formula has changed a great deal in the last 50 years. Indeed, research shows the difference in 'risk' to children fed with contemporary formula and those who are breastfed is utterly insignificant in comparison to the risks posed by feeding infants anything else (e.g. evaporated milk and cow's milk). So I'm not sure the result can in any way be transferred to contemporary women's choices.

Anyway, as for correlation :

I think peer pressure is a big factor in bf or not. Those working class mums who bf are probably less likely to go along with the norms of their peers, which may be a way of saying they're aspirational. So, there could be resultant social climbing.

There have also been big changes in society so the chances of social mobility for babies today are completely different than they were for those born in the 1950s and 1970s. I really don't see how this study could say anything about formula feeding or the life chances of babies in 2013.

Being breast fed determines social class.....

oh jeezus class starting at the boob

I think there can be actual hostility towards those who come across as aspirational. Both from their peers who think they're putting on airs and from the class above who resent the encroachment.

And parenting choices are probably where we are most vulnerable to criticism.

yes my degree studying non bf dd is going to be a scurge on society

This is from the Independent report:

"The analysis of more than 34,000 people born in the 1950s and 1970s found that those who had been breastfed as a baby were 24 per cent more likely to be upwardly mobile ? and 20 per cent less likely to drop down the social ladder."

...

"Two groups of people ? born in 1958 and in 1970 ? were categorised by the job their father did when they were 10 or 11, and the job they themselves had when they were 33 or 34."

So, two possible explanations: either breastfeeding has a measurable effect on things like intelligence (assuming upward mobility is the result of greater intelligence), or women who choose to breastfeed are more likely to do other things to support their children, such as read to them, help with homework, make sure they have proper bedtimes, all those kinds of things.

DS was combi fed - does that mean he will be MC?

Or just eat Greggs sausage rolls in between chukkas at the Polo?