Should formula milk advertising be completely illegal

[Reallytired]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6933188.stm

I think so. Mums who need to use formula, are better off getting advice from health professionals rather than advertising.

How would companies not making a profit out of infant feeding work?

[resists the urge to say that there is also a market for heroin, tobacco and alcohol]

absolutely PMSL - only on MN

elesbells - why can't it be the same for formula then as well - lets leave it to the health professionals to provide support rather than food conglomerates to spend millions on advertising.

For many the battle to b/feed is lost well before they encounter any health professional. If you were formula-fed yourself, have seen younger siblings/cousins formula fed, have seen images on TV/film of babies being given a bottle, have a partner who also was formula fed and has never seen anyone breastfeeding then you have to have one hell of a midwife and health visitor to get you through the first 6 weeks. My parents, who were approaching 60, had never seen anyone breastfeed prior to ds1. Even my aunts who were nurses thought the idea of feeding to 3 months as being freakish. Even if all formula advertising was banned tomorrow we would have a huge way to go in the country to "normalise" breastfeeding for the average first-time mum (who will not be educated to degree-level and who will be under 30).

Well, advertising creates sales, doesnt it? Why else wouid they advertise? For the good of their 'potential' customers? Yes, they have such scruples, formula companies.

That's why they sell it for £2 a tin in malaysia.

Why do they need to advertise?
Tell me?

but for some, eating junk food is the norm. And if you're uneducated as to the rights and wrongs of eating chicken nuggets/m&s ready meals/ready-to-eat pizza, then the advertising of these foods could convince you that this is what you need for a healthy diet.

So, should we ban the advertising of everything that the uneducated don't know better than to treat as gospel?

Eh?

I'm sorry. I read that as meaning that formula should be sold on a not-for-profit basis. And I couldn't see how that would happen.

Actually meandmy, i would feel better if it was distributed, at cost, in non-fancy packaging, with the facts on the tin.

But, that really is wishful thinking.

Wannabe, I suspect when we get to the point that we have young people dying from obesity-related diseases, then yes, there will be a call to ban junk-food advertising - there already is a ban on such advertising directed at children by the way, so at least pester-power is being reduced. And there is a huge drive in schools to educate children now on what constitues a healthy diet. Of course these measure can still be over-ruled by parental choice, but public policy is defintiely pushing in one direction.

if formula was sold on a no-for-profit basis then the pro bf alliance would be up in arms about that as well. If you said that "no-one will make a profit on infant feeding, and therefore formula will be free to those who need it", those who believe that everyone should bf would accuse the formula companies/the government/god knows who else of encouraging people not to bf by giving the formula away. Either way they will never win, and the pro bf alliance won't be happy until formula is banned altogether.

But then no-one would manufacture it...

ladym. the point im trying to make is that the support isnt there in the hospitals ime. i was handed a bottle with all three of my dd's. dd1 is 18 and dd2 is 16. i was young when i had them and was not even offered any help to bf in hospital or indeed at the clinic.

it was only at my insistance with dd3 (older and wiser maybe) that bfed. i taught myself how to do it without help. it was only that we had a bfeeding nurse at the clinc that i carried on with her support. i think if that area is tackled first it will lead to more women being successful iyswim?

I disagree wannabe. The pro b/feeding alliance will be happy when appropriate support is given to those who want to b/feed but have been unable to through lack of advice, support and assistance.

They will be happy when rates of b/feeding increase to be in line with world averages in the UK.

They will be happy when formula companies are no longer allowed to undermine b/feeding by making outrageous claims to be 'the best' or closer to b/milk etc.

Until research and surveys start to show that much less than the 30% of mothers who currently believe formula is the same as b/milk and make a choice on that basis, they will continue to do their work.

I think there is a huge factor you are apparently overlooking here. The pro-b/feeding alliance are doing this for the good of infants and parents.

What are the motives of formula companies?

but vvv what then of those mothers who genuinely can't breastfeed? or those who choose not to for whatever reason, either because they're not comfortable/have had a previous bad experience/whatever? If we continually emphasise the fact that formula is sub standard, then these mothers have to be content with the fact that, not only have they failed to breastfeed, (something which a lot of women feel when bf hasn't worked out), but that they will be made to feel that they are not doing the best for their baby.

Imo it's not the advertising etc that needs to be stopped, but more research needs to be done to enable formula to be manufactured to be closer to breastmilk. Not to encourage women to use it, but to enable those who cannot bf to still do the best for their babies without needing to feel that they are poisoning their baby.

You all know that advertising infant formula's illegal already, don't you?

And follow-on milk was created solely to get round that ban?

I'm too cross to write anything sensible now. I'll think about it and post later, maybe.

No I don't.

And Wannabe, that's a lovely idea re creating formula that is closer to breastmilk, but I can't see how it can happen.

Breastmilk alters depending on the weather, what the mother's eaten, whether the child's ill or not (a baby with eg a cold will "dial up" antibodies by breastfeeding), etc, etc - its composition changes with each feed.

You can't ever hope to replicate that with formula, because of quality control checks, etc.

Elesbells, funny how the formula was at hand in the hospital though isn't it? I had to bring in my own sanitary towels and nappies, but formula was totally free. I had the pick of 4 varieties but was helpfully informed that one was closest to breastmilk...

It is all down to funding isn't it. And food conglomerates have way more to spend on advertising and promotion (and supply of formula to hospitals) than the government has at its disposal. You could of course increases taxes to be able to give the government a similar amount at its disposal, or you can look to make the playing field more level in other ways (eg restricting formula advertsiing).

blimey tiredemma you are the Queen of the wholly specious argument today
formula should be advertised because there is a market for it?
er....... what?

it makes me lol to read that people need advertising to help them know which brand to choose
is that how you choose a car?
you look at the advertising?or do you check out actual unbiassed information.

course not

They wont be made to feel anything wannabe.

Formula is a perfectly adequate substitute infant nutrition. Of course it is.

But it is not and never will be comparable to breastmilk. There is no way around that.

It is dreadful when mothers who want to b/feed cant, for whatever reason. I really do sympathise with them.

It doesnt change the fact that formula is not as good as b/milk (for many reasons - i dont think we need to cover this again). There is no way around telling this cold hard fact.

And if formula companies are prevented from insinuating, implying by association or whatever, and the result is women arent choosing formula because they think there is no difference (and in some cases think it is better!), then thats great, IMVHO.

harpsi - are you confusing tiredemma and lazyemma?

but i dont see how banning advertising will stop the hospital having formular?

It doesn't stop the hospital from purchasing infant formula. I just wonder how many of the bottles provided in hospitals are actually purchased by the hospital. And if mothers are given free bottles then isn't that a promotion? No idea on what the actual regs are. Personally I'm not that bothered about the formula in hospital issue, but it is part of the pervasive message of formula feeding. I bet that the midwife would have tried harder to help you if there weren't any bottles lying around. Certainly in my experience there were far more bottles of forumla available than to feed those babies whose mothers were unable to breastfeed.

Well, that comes under the banner of having proper and appropriate support eles.

Besides, i feel that hospitals should have some stocks of formula. Just not hand it out to new mums as though it was the 'norm'.

OK, well, as long as I have been a mother, I assumed breast-feeding was the norm. That's the last 7 years.

I struggled through the last few months of feeding my last daughter, losing enormous amounts of weight myself, while she was unable to even lift her head at 8 months. Because of my medical condition, I made the decision to FF ds, and he has thrived and I've recovered a lot quicker.

No, I didn't receive a lot of BF support anyway, but I did receive a lot of censure when I was in the hospital feeding him formula.

I'm getting heartily sick and tired of being told I'm failing my son, while I'm still dealing with the fact that I failed my daughter.

I fully agree with more resources being put into BF support. But that's not what's happening. FF censure does not equate to BF support.