toddler: beneficial implies (maybe not strictly correctly) that it is something "extra" than the norm, that it is enhanced.
it implies that formula is ok, and breastmilk is a bit better. if that makes sense?
I've seen an analogy to chickens before. You know a chicken normally lives to X years. They tend to grow at a fairly standard rate. They used to (and are supposed to) live outside and grub about for food.
that's a normal chicken.
then someone came along and said hey, let's feed them antibiotics and growth hormones. then we can eat them quicker. let's keep them all inside so we can fit more in a small space. let's pump the meat full of water to make it seem bigger.
But that wouldn't sell would it? no-one would want that chicken. so they make that the norm. that's your regular chicken. The free-range, organic chicken becomes something special. soemthing that costs more- wsomething that is beneficial because of the lack of additives and water that were put in unnecessarily in the first place.
and it's a similar thing. Breastfeeding is just normal. The "benefits" it offers are not strictly speaking benefits. They are just how human babies are supposed to be. The protection against disease and allergies and obesity... that's how people shoudl be
anything less than that is sub-standard. and I do think it's an important distinction.
The risks in some areas may be small, but all women have the right to know that there ARE risks to formula feeding, rrather than assuming that formula is fine and breastmilk is simply a "better" version of it