Lancet series stresses infant formula industry’s marketing effects on parental decision-making

09 Feb 2023 --- The Lancet has published three articles pointing out the lack of exclusive breastfeeding for infants per the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendations. The reports say that predatory tactics are used, creating exploitative marketing of baby formula. 

“The sale of commercial milk formula is a multi-billion-dollar industry that uses political lobbying alongside a sophisticated and highly effective marketing playbook to turn the care and concern of parents and caregivers into a business opportunity. It is time for this to end. Women should be empowered to make choices about infant feeding which are informed by accurate information free from industry influence,” says Nigel Rollins, co-author of the report and scientist at the WHO.

The marketing of formula focuses on portraying infants’ behaviors, such as crying and lack of sleep, as something that needs to be fixed with formula when these behaviors are “common and developmentally appropriate,” the report says.

It further details that “the industry’s dubious marketing practices are compounded by lobbying, often covertly via trade associations and front groups, against strengthening breastfeeding protection laws and challenging food standard regulations.”

The report details that breastfeeding is a complex topic as it does not work for all women.While the report details that breastfeeding is a complex topic and not all women can because of individual differences, it suggests that families’ decision-making process is impacted by the information they are exposed to. The report accuses the commercial milk formula industry of being “an interconnected, multi-faceted and powerful system that knowingly exploits parents’ aspirations.”

Achieving optimal breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is stressed due to its health benefits to the infant as the risk of childhood infectious disease, malnutrition, mortality, and developing obesity later in life decreases. It has also shown a reduced risk for Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and ovarian and breast cancer for the mother. 

“Women and families need unbiased information on infant feeding, but there is no way that governments and public health organizations can compete with industry just by providing counter messages,” Dr. Laurence Grummer-Strawn, unit head of the food and nutrition action in health systems team at the WHO, previously told NutritionInsight.

Breastfeeding also releases oxytocin, prolactin and other metabolites strengthening the bond between mother and baby while reducing physiological stress for both. Still, the report shows that less than 50% of infants globally are exclusively breastfed.

“We know that secure, responsive bonding between mothers and their babies is the foundation of human development and our societies. By directly and aggressively working to undermine maternal confidence and offer inappropriate nutritional solutions to common worries, formula milk marketing threatens to reshape societies and undermine human development,” Robert Boyle, reader in pediatric allergy at Imperial College London, underscores.

Political and corporate power
Boyle says that in this new report, the authors highlight the misinformation directed at families by the formula industry and highlight the industry’s political, social and cultural power to reshape parents’ decision-making in order to increase sales.

“Marketing of formula milk can be very destructive for humanity because successful formula marketing depends on weakening the bond between a mother and baby to undermine breastfeeding,” Boyle adds.

He further states that this danger has been recognized for many decades, but the global response needs to be improved.

“Breastfeeding has been almost eradicated from some cultures, and hundreds of thousands of infants have died unnecessarily as a consequence of allowing formula marketing to systematically undermine women’s natural desire to breastfeed their baby,” Boyle says. The danger of not breastfeeding has been recognized for many decades, but the global response needs to be improved, Boyle argues.

Dr. Daniel Munblit,  an honorary senior lecturer at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, says that many infant formula claims are poorly substantiated, suggesting that current legal protections for infants and their carers are inadequate.

“This series highlights the need for society to take collective responsibility in supporting mothers to breastfeed, while addressing the barriers they face and ensuring they are informed by accurate information free from industry influence. The message should finally serve as a wake-up call for the world,” adds Munblit.

“In recognition of the special dangers associated with formula milk marketing, the authors call for a new, legally binding international agreement to better protect the world’s infants and their carers,” Boyle concludes.

By Beatrice Wihlander

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