Save the Children's new report on marketing practices of formula-milk companies: what do you think?

[RowanMumsnet]

As some of you may have seen from press coverage over the weekend and this morning, Save the Children is today launching a report into the marketing practices of formula milk manufacturers.

The report focuses specifically on marketing in developing countries - where a lack of good sanitation and public health awareness can make formula-feeding precarious - and on the importance of colostrum to a baby's long-term health. You can read more about the campaign and see the petition here.

We've been asked to get behind this campaign - and as ever, in these situations, we need to know what you think!

Is this something MNers would like us to support? As many of you will know, we have long refused advertising from Nestle and its majority-owned subsidiaries. Save the Children's report is also critical of Danone, the second-largest formula manufacturer.

We'd be really interested to hear your views.

Juggling I know you've put a lot of thought into this and your suggestions have been really helpful I see what you mean about wanting to support the broader campaign, even if there are questions about the specific proposal here. I guess I just feel like if you're going to release this big report and get people all geared up to do something, it would be nice to have a petition for something a bit more feasible or impactful.

If the companies are ignoring the Code to begin with, I don't see the point of asking them to do something that's in the Code only bigger. Seriously, what's the point?

I do think it's important to question tactics because if thirty years of boycott are not having enough impact, clearly we need to think outside the box, not do more of the same.

Shag, you can't possibly say you're not ascribing moral notions to formula, and then tell someone her decision to use formula is a 'matter for her conscience'.

Can we just agree to disagree on whether using formula is a mortal sin or not, and focus on what we do all agree on? Which is the dodgy practices of formula companies, and the need to help women in developing countries in particular.

For a dreamingbohemian you're really very reasonable and rational you know !

Thinking outside the box made me smile as maybe we all need to think beyond the labeling issue ?!

Formula is neither 'good' nor 'bad'. It's a product.

All mothers do the best they can for their babies. Many mothers feel very strongly that the benefits of breastfeeding for their children are not significant enough to offset the disadvantages to themselves, whatever those disadvantages may be. Many mothers in the UK want to breastfeed and find it goes by the wayside because of inadequate social and medical support. Whatever. I we all still want the best for our babies, however we choose to feed.

Because I personally feel that breastfeeding was really important for my children it would have been morally difficult for me to deliberately choose not to bf my babies - I would have had to have had a very powerful reason not to. My conscience told me I had to try very hard to breastfeed.

"and the need to help women in developing countries in particular"

I'm also concerned about the poorest children in the UK, who are the most likely to be deprived of the benefits of breastfeeding. These children are also most likely to have poor weaning diets, and be exposed to smoking in pregnancy.

Breastfeeding is free and almost anyone can do it. If it makes a difference to the quality of life of these children, given all the other disadvantages they may have, then I think we should do all we can to encourage it. It may be the only time in these children's lives that they EVER have optimal nutrition.

And part of encouraging it is stopping formula companies from living in people's heads - which they do by saturating the media with images of their products, producing marketing material which subtly discourages breastfeeding while masquerading as impartial 'support'. It's wrong. Especially as most of these mothers have extremely limited exposure to normal breastfeeding.

Aw thanks Juggling

I think actually it's a pretty exciting time in the world, as we have new technologies, new networks, all the existing political and economic systems are being shaken up -- there's a lot of instability but this also means there's a lot of new opportunities. It's a great time to be innovative and come up with new approaches and reach out to people, to look at what's been done so far and come up with new strategies.

There is fascinating research going on about behavioural economics, about people's decision-making in the developing world, about why people decide to do things that are sub-optimal. Surely there are lessons here for this area?

The formula companies have lots of money and no morals. We can't just keep appealing to their better nature. I think we have to be clever and tricksy and come up with some new ways to outsmart them.

Shag -- then let me amend that to say we agree that more needs to be done to help disadvantaged women and children generally. It's true we shouldn't forget the shocking poverty in parts of the UK, even if it's not as dire as in other parts of the world.

I think you're stereotyping a bit Shag,not all poor families feed their kids shite and to be honest I do wonder that if somebody smokes,eats crap and takes medication whether there would be more negatives than positives.

Interestingly there was a study recently which found that obesity was higher in middle class parents than poorer parents in Leeds.Kind of turns some of the bf/ff, feeding of children in poorer/mc families on it's head.

I do love that this thread has been much less adverserial than many, and than it perhaps had the possibility to be.

Perhaps that's a way forward for decision making generally in the world ?

Good to see that the tragic deaths of a million babies a year have largely kept us focused on what we can do to change things.

As indeed they should

Polka - When you say 'not all poor families feed their kids shite' what relevance does this have to my post because I didn't say or imply that 'all' children from poor families have poor diets. Only that they're more likely to. Which is true.

"which found that obesity was higher in middle class parents than poorer parents in Leeds"

It doesn't turn anything on its head, given that across the rest of the UK (and the developed world generally) there is a strong correlation between obesity and household income/education.

Probably down to the poor of Leeds smoking like chimneys, hence keeping their weight down below the non-smoking m/c.

Dreaming - yes. There is such a strong correlation between poor child health and poverty in the UK. It makes me sad and angry that poor children get second best of EVERYTHING.

Blimey Shag that really is stereotyping - smoking like chimneys

Said research is challenging the stereotype.

It is impossible to pinpoint any one cause eg poverty(which is being challenged anyway)on obesity.

There is other research linking working mothers to obesity.

Polka, there is no mention of a 'slogan' taking up a third of the labelling. I did quote the petition wording earlier this evening - check it out.

The petition is not 'wooly' or lacking clarity - you have probably not read it or not read it properly.

You say, "I do wonder that if somebody smokes,eats crap and takes medication whether there would be more negatives than positives" in breastfeeding, I guess you mean. Wonder no more. There is a large amount of research showing that the benefits of breastmilk are largely unaffected by these factors - the baby of a smoking mother is better of being bf than if he was ff; poor diet in the mother has little impact on her bf; most medication is safe to take when bf.

I think you're stereotyping a bit Shag,not all poor families feed their kids shite and to be honest I do wonder that if somebody smokes,eats crap and takes medication whether there would be more negatives than positives.

"Interestingly there was a study recently which found that obesity was higher in middle class parents than poorer parents in Leeds.Kind of turns some of the bf/ff, feeding of children in poorer/mc families on it's head. "

No it turned nothing on its head! The difference was very small, and one study among others which show the opposite does no more than mildly challenge the research; in any case, there was no attempt to relate the findings to whether or not these kids were bf or ff - we know obesity is multi-factorial.

"Probably down to the poor of Leeds smoking like chimneys, hence keeping their weight down below the non-smoking m/c. "

Shag, that's a silly thing to say.....adds nothing to the debate and is based on sheer ignorance.

I personally (given the link to smoking and sids) would avoid feeding my babies milk made by a person swilling in some pretty heavy duty toxins.

Research re meds can change,given the effects of caffeine on my bm I personally refused all meds when bf,thalidomide often at the back of my mind.

No Tiktok I just read the link in the op.

I gave birth to both children in the Philippines. I kid you not they had to wear t shirts which said "Breast fed baby" on them over their baby grow whilst in hospital! Otherwise sugar solution is given to them followed by formula. This was also written on my notes and above their cots. I then had to endue 6 months each time of people asking me if I was too poor to feed them formula! Formula marketing out there was constant and very very very successul. It was heart breaking to hear people linking formula fed with status. To say I was stared at would be an understatement, I was a freak show and even in the affluent part of Manila where we lived a group would squeeze in to watch! I whole heartedly support this campaign just to stop impoverished people part with their cash because they think it is what Westeners do, will make them more intelligent (yes the adverts go that far) and to give them a choice as at the moment society in the Philippines ridicules breast feeding mums.

tiktok - the comment about the smokers of Leeds was chuckaway and a joke. I know nothing of people's smoking habits in that part of the world. Should have said 'boom boom' afterwards to indicate that I was trying failing to be snarky.

That's an amazing post sharing your experience of having your babies in the Philippines Jolibee
Did you keep the T-shirts ?!

OK, Shag :)

Polka - the link in the OP takes you to the wording of the petition. Nothing about slogans there, either, but hey-ho.....

"I personally (given the link to smoking and sids) would avoid feeding my babies milk made by a person swilling in some pretty heavy duty toxins."

Fortunately, there is nothing in any current campaign that suggests it would be a good idea for mothers who smoke to enforce their donated milk on you or anyone else. I am just sharing some factual knowledge with you here - breastmilk from a mother who smokes retains many of its benefits, and the baby of a smoking mother benefits from being breastfed, and is nutritionally and physiologically better off, if he is bf rather than ff.

"Research re meds can change,given the effects of caffeine on my bm I personally refused all meds when bf,thalidomide often at the back of my mind."

Your choice, of course, but no idea what your point is. I was challenging your idea that it was better for the baby to be ff, if his mother smoked, had a crap diet and took meds. Your way of debating this is to tell us your personal choice was to avoid medication - hurrah and hooray, but what's it got to do with your original generalisation?

This is a vital campaign which everyone should support. Im so pleased that Save the Children is supporting this. Children are dying and poor families are bankrupting themselves because they think formula is better

Link requests a third of a tin is taken up with a warning and the breast is best message. That is not needed here and could have negative effects.

Zara1984 why don't you read The Politics Of Breastfeeding? Like it or not, there IS a lot of crap in FF. And in the USA one formula milk was so lacking in essential vitamins & minerals that children DID die because they were fed it. It was banned by the USA government. Guess what the company wanted to do with all the leftovers? Give it to 3rd world countries!
It's NOT JUST lack of clean water in some countries that is the problem.
And please don't be so naive to think that just because it tells you on the tin its full of vitamins & minerals, that they are actually in it! Lol

And I think the substitute/formula milk producers play on those insecurities so much, making many women question whether their milk is good enough or will be sufficient for their baby, when in the vast majority of cases it will be.
So even where the mother is smoking, or has a poor diet etc. very often breastfeeding will still be the best nutrition for her baby. In fact in poor conditions it can be particularly protective and therefore important.

I wish we had kept them! It was a battle with my beliefs at times; our maids were quite embarressed of me at first for breast feeding because it made it look like they were employed by poor people. I obviously didn't want to cause shame on them but at the same time wanted to feed my children! One of our helpers was tiny, it turned out she had been formula fed but the family did not have the money so as her mum's milk had dried up was fed rice water - literally the family cooked their rice with extra water and this water was fed to the baby. The marketing there is so intense it really does not give women a choice.

Don't think it is as cut and dried as that.