Life Cycle GHG Emission Comparison of Infant Nursing Using Breast Milk Versus Formula

Amonkar, Yash; Chowdhury, Nafisa; Song, Yiran; Wu, Jane Siyuan; Vaidya, Prakash D.; Meinrenken, Christoph J.

doi:10.5890/jeam.2019.03.005

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Our findings are in line with Karlsson et al, 2019, who found that the global warming potential of feeding with infant formula was almost double that of breastfeeding [ 27 ]. However, these results are in contrast with those of Amonkar et al, 2019, who found instead that the global warming potential from feeding with infant formula was lower than from breastfeeding [ 28 ]. The disagreement in results can mainly be ascribed to difference in assumptions regarding how breastmilk was fed to the child.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

“…In our study and in Karlsson et al, 2019 [ 27 ], it was assumed that all breastfeeding was directly at the breast. Amonkar et al, 2019 [ 28 ], on the other hand, presumed that the lactating mother regularly expresses her breastmilk, and hence have included in their calculations production and use of electric breast pumps and feeding bottles as well as cold storing and heating of expressed breastmilk. These additional processes contributed with 18% of the total global warming potential for feeding breastmilk [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have therefore assumed that feeding directly at the breast is more common than expressing milk regularly. However, we recognize that in reality, some breastfeeding mothers choose to express milk using a breast pump regularly or occasionally in addition to feeding directly at the breast, which might raise the environmental impact of expressed breastmilk [ 28 , 57 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies estimating the environmental impact of infant formula feeding and breastfeeding are limited. To our knowledge, only two previous peer-reviewed studies have compared the environmental impact of infant formula feeding and breastfeeding using life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology [ 27 , 28 ]. Both studies focused solely on the impact category global warming potential, commonly known as carbon footprint.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Karlsson et al, 2019 found that feeding with infant formula had almost twice the carbon footprint of breastfeeding [ 27 ]. Amonkar et al, 2019, on the other hand, found a higher carbon footprint of breastmilk than infant formula, assuming that breastfeeding mothers regularly expressed their breastmilk [ 28 ]. In addition, a more recent study from Pope et al, 2021 described a considerable water footprint of infant formula [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Impact of Feeding with Infant Formula in Comparison with Breastfeeding

Andresen

Hjelkrem

Bakken

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Young children have unique nutritional requirements, and breastfeeding is the best option to support healthy growth and development. Concerns have been raised around the increasing use of milk-based infant formulas in replacement of breastfeeding, in regards to health, social, economic and environmental factors. However, literature on the environmental impact of infant formula feeding and breastfeeding is scarce. In this study we estimated the environmental impact of four months exclusive feeding with infant formula compared to four months exclusive breastfeeding in a Norwegian setting. We used life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, including the impact categories global warming potential, terrestrial acidification, marine and freshwater eutrophication, and land use. We found that the environmental impact of four months exclusive feeding with infant formula was 35–72% higher than that of four months exclusive breastfeeding, depending on the impact category. For infant formula, cow milk was the main contributor to total score for all impact categories. The environmental impact of breastfeeding was dependant on the composition of the lactating mother’s diet. In conclusion, we found that breastfeeding has a lower environmental impact than feeding with infant formula. A limitation of the study is the use of secondary LCA data for raw ingredients and processes.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Environmental Impact of Feeding with Infant Formula in Comparison with Breastfeeding

Andresen

Hjelkrem

Bakken

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Addressing infant and young child feeding recommendations from a planetary health perspective

Santos-Guzmán,

Unar-Munguía,

Rivera

et al. 2024

Advances in Nutrition

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The Carbon Catalogue, carbon footprints of 866 commercial products from 8 industry sectors and 5 continents

Meinrenken

Chen²,

Esparza

et al. 2022

Sci Data

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Product carbon footprints (PCFs) are playing an increasing role in decisions around sustainability for companies and consumers. Using data reported to CDP, we have previously built a dataset of 866 PCFs, from 145 companies, 30 industry groups, and 28 countries, showing trends of how upstream and downstream emissions vary by industry and how life cycle assessment (LCA) appears to aid companies in achieving steeper carbon reductions through improvements throughout a product’s value chain. Here, we present the greenhouse gas emissions and respective meta data for every product in this dataset. The Carbon Catalogue provides each product with name and description, PCF (in kg CO2e) and the respective LCA protocol/standard, product weight, as well as the name, industry, and country of incorporation of its manufacturer. For a subset of 421 products, the Carbon Catalogue further includes the PCF’s reported breakdown into two to nine separate stages of the product’s life cycle. For another subset of 250 products, the Carbon Catalogue includes how the respective PCFs changed and why the changes occurred.

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Life Cycle GHG Emission Comparison of Infant Nursing Using Breast Milk Versus Formula

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Environmental Impact of Feeding with Infant Formula in Comparison with Breastfeeding

Environmental Impact of Feeding with Infant Formula in Comparison with Breastfeeding

Addressing infant and young child feeding recommendations from a planetary health perspective

The Carbon Catalogue, carbon footprints of 866 commercial products from 8 industry sectors and 5 continents

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