History: The First Generation of American Pediatricians and Their Inadvertent Legacy to Breastfeeding

Wolf, Jacqueline H.

doi:10.1089/bfm.2006.1.172

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This allowed both sides to save face, to pay lip service to ‘breast is best' and to use science in advertising. The products began ‘to be used under the direction of a physician' [23]; the resulting conflict of interest has been described by Rima Apple [28] and Jacqueline Wolf [44]. There were and remain close connections between formula companies and pediatricians, but they developed after the market for formula rather than being a causal factor.…”

Section: Subtle and Aggressive Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic Records on the Commercial Production of Infant Formula

Obladen¹

2014

Neonatology

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Industrialized food production first appeared in 1856, pioneered by Borden in the USA, Liebig in Germany, Nestlé in Switzerland, and Mellin in the UK. Their products differed remarkably and deviated from human and cow's milk, and physicians discussed the importance of minute variations in protein, fat and carbohydrates. Proprietary formulas were free of bacteria, and the companies prospered with mass production, international marketing and aggressive advertising. From 1932 on, medical societies restricted advertising to the laity. In 1939 Williams in Singapore and in 1970 Jelliffe in Jamaica suspected that commercial formula may be increasing infant mortality in the Third World. Breastfeeding continued to decline during the early 20th century, falling in 1970 below 10% in the USA. The Swiss ‘Third World Group' and the US ‘Infant Formula Action Coalition' linked infant mortality and industry marketing in the Third World. The controversy of 1970-1984 led to the WHO Code, which regulated the advertising and marketing of baby food. This was one of several public health statements contributing to the resurgence of breastfeeding.

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Section: Subtle and Aggressive Marketingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic Records on the Commercial Production of Infant Formula

Obladen¹

2014

Neonatology

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“…The more infant feeding became supervised by physicians, the more mothers decided they were incapable of producing sufficient amounts of milk without help from physicians and artificial feeding products 8 . Breastfeeding also became medicalized 9,10 . While breastfeeding was promoted in medical publications, it was often mishandled in practice, a problem that persists today 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

International Breastfeeding Initiatives and their Relevance to the Current State of Breastfeeding in the United States

Walker

2007

J Midwife Womens Health

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Exclusive breastfeeding is becoming an endangered practice. Breastfeeding has fallen from the foundation of public health to something that is nice but not necessary in the minds of many consumers and health care professionals. Numerous international initiatives have been created to improve the initiation, duration, and exclusivity of breastfeeding throughout the world. These include the International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes, the Innocenti Declaration, and the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. In the United States, the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy (NABA), the US Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), and Baby-Friendly USA have played important roles in improving breastfeeding. We begin with a brief history of these initiatives and organizations and move on to discuss some of the progress and programs that can help return breastfeeding to its rightful place as the initial and most basic act of health protection.

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“…Medical charities also purchased certified milk-in bulk to give away at milk stations in congested urban neighbors as part of the broad national effort to lower infant mortality (Melvin, 1983;Pearson, 1908;Wasserman, 1972;Wile, 1909). Yet, the safe infant food development effort that most visibly legitimized pediatricians, a group that long had been maligned as inconsequential "baby doctors," was accessible only to middle-and upper-class families (Abt, 1944;Wolf, 2006).…”

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confidence: 99%

Historical Research: The Origin of ‘Formula’: State of the Science, 1890s

Wolf

2020

J Hum Lact

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In 1900, 13% of infants in the United States died before their first birthday, most of dehydration from diarrhea. As part of a nationwide effort to “save the babies,” pediatricians focused on several endeavors—experimenting with commercially made infant-food products; working with dairy farmers to clean up cows’ milk; lobbying to pass municipal and state legislation regulating the dairy industry; and devising mathematical “formulas” that represented instructions to chemists on how to “humanize” cows’ milk for the needs of a particular infant. Pediatricians dubbed the latter endeavor “percentage feeding” and, from the 1890s to the 1920s, they deemed percentage feeding a lifesaving scientific achievement. The complex, virtually infinite array of mathematical formulas that comprised this infant-feeding system is the origin of the word “formula” as used today to describe artificial baby milk.

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History: The First Generation of American Pediatricians and Their Inadvertent Legacy to Breastfeeding

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Historic Records on the Commercial Production of Infant Formula

Historic Records on the Commercial Production of Infant Formula

International Breastfeeding Initiatives and their Relevance to the Current State of Breastfeeding in the United States

Historical Research: The Origin of ‘Formula’: State of the Science, 1890s

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