Formula Sucks!!

I understand not everyone is as educated as I am about the dangers of formula feeding.

What I don't understand is why people don't want to educate themselves.

Recently, on facebook, a woman suggested to my breast-feeding sister that she should formula feed. Why couldn't she just offer help instead of advice? Don't get me wrong. Advice is great but sometimes all you need is for someone to come help.

"Formula feeding increases the baby’s risk of a whole range of health issues: SIDS, childhood cancer, respiratory illnesses, digestive illnesses, obesity, high blood pressure, allergies, ear infections and more. Giving your baby formula also increases his risk of not reaching his potential in terms of intelligence and school achievement, of having dental problems and needing orthodontic treatment and of dying during his first year of life." taken from http://www.lllc.ca/what-if-breastfeeding-had-no-benefits

When doing a search for risks of formula, I get many results. Including one from the World Health Organization. These are just a few of the risks mentioned:
For baby, artificial feeding increases the risk of the following diseases (among others*):

- Otitis media (middle ear infection): 3 to 5 times more likely
- Gastroenteritis: 6 times more likely
- Diarrhea
- Respiratory diseases (bronchitis, pneumonia): 2 to 5 times more likely
- Allergies
- Asthma

- Obesity

- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS): 3 to 5 times more likely
- Lymphomas: 6 to 8 times more likely
- Type-1 Diabetes: 2 to 7 times more likely

- Necrotising enterocolitis: 20 times more likely
- Inflammatory diseases of the intestine (ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease): 3 times more likely
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Breast Cancer in girls
- Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Hodgkin's disease

- Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Urinary tract infections

- Vision troubles
- Poor development of jaw muscles and malocclusion
- IQ up to 8-10 points lower
- Tooth decay (« bottle caries »)
- Less effective immunisations (vaccines)

- Premature death (in the first year of life): 26.5% increased risk
*Incidence of all diseases studied is higher in formula-fed babies than in breastfed babies.

For mother, NOT breastfeeding increases the risk for the following diseases (among others)

- Post-partum haemorrhage
- Pre-menopausal Breast Cancer: 2 times more likely
- Ovarian Cancer: 1.6 times more likely
- Endometrial Cancer
- The mother who has Gestational Diabetes is 2 times more at risk of developing type-2 Diabetes later on if she does not breastfeed
- Osteoporosis

Doing a search for "Risks of Breastfeeding" comes up with quite a different result. There are a few HIV or aids sites listed but the majority are things like "the risks of NOT breastfeeding", and the risks of smoking, taking drugs, consuming alchol while breastfeeding. The World Health Organization recommends that breastfeeding is still the best way to feed your baby. Even with breast implants! ;)

I also did a search for contaminants in formula. "Formula itself may have contaminants introduced in the manufacturing process. Recalls have been ordered because of contamination with substances such as broken glass, fragments of metal and salmonella and other bacteria. The fungal toxin aflatoxin has also been detected in some commercial formulas. Although detected levels were very low, this toxin is known to cause cancer and is not present in breast milk. Infant formulas also may contain excessive levels of metals, including aluminum, manganese, cadmium and lead. Soy formulas are a particular concern due to very high levels of plant-derived estrogens (phytoestrogens) in soy products. In fact, the concentrations of phytoestrogens detected in the blood of infants fed soy formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times greater than the concentrations of natural estrogens." http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/formula.asp

These are just a few of the results. Search it for yourself if you don't believe me. Do me a favor. If you know a breastfeeding mom, support her. Don't ask how much longer she'll be doing it for. Respect her decision that she is doing it for the well-being of her and her baby and she will stop breastfeeding when her child decides he's done. Ask him if you're really curious! :)