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Friday, May 04, 2007
(Quite Note: I'm out of town until Sunday and while I can receive email, I can't send any, so if you drop me a note, please know that my response will be delayed.)More than 3,600 mothers in the Philippines attempted to set a new world record this week by breastfeeding their children simultaneously at 156 sites around the country. Last year, 3,738 mothers gathered in a sports stadium in Manila to break the previous record set in 2005 in Berkeley, California.
From the Fox News coverage:
Breast-feeding advocates, social welfare officials and UNICEF spearheaded the event that hopes to set the first Guinness record for the most mothers breast-feeding in multiple locations.
A partial, unofficial count showed at least 3,608 mothers took part nationwide, according to the organizers' Web site and Felix Armenia, an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
"We need every possible way to get the message out that Filipino mothers should breast-feed exclusively for six months and then continue to breast-feed for two years and beyond with household foods," said Dale Rutstein, UNICEF's spokesman.
"Unfortunately, through advertising, most Filipino mothers now believe that artificial forms of foods for babies are actually better than breast milk," he said.
The breastfeeding rate in the Philippines is quite low and controversial advertising campaigns by formula makers have led to a culture that often believes formula is BETTER for infants than breastfeeding. The breastfeeding event was touted as a way to raise awareness for the benefits of breastfeeding.
Labels: Nursing in Public
It's always stunning to read about low breastfeeding rates in poor countries where people really oughtn't be wasting what little they have on formula.
How sad that marketing campaigns can skew what people think so much. Just like the Marlboro man and cigarettes. Sad.
The US Chamber of Commerce has been putting pressure on the Philippine government against passing the Milk Code, which, among many others, seeks to ban formula companies from advertising on TV and print. The USCC has "warned" the president that passing of the Milk Code may deem the Philippine commercial environment as being "unfriendly" to businesses.
Now I don't see any formula advertisements here in the US. Is it because it is not legal to do so?
-r-
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