Friday, October 12, 2007 Editorials: Conflict over milk for babies
THE Supreme Court has resolved the conflict over the marketing of artificial infant formula as substitute for mother’s milk.
The issue originally centered on the manner multi-national milk firms advertised their products in the media.
The advertisements, the Department of Health (DOH) noted, tended to show that infant formula is superior to mother’s milk.
Health authorities, with support of the United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO), asked the Supreme Court to temporarily ban the milk ads pending resolution of the issue.
Decision
The other day, the SC ordered the lifting of the ban against the ads.
Its decision was anchored on the point that the ads are covered by the constitutional provision of freedom of speech.
It did not, however, resolve the issue on whether or not infant formula is good for babies up to two years old and is as good, or even better, than mother’s milk.
DOH insists that findings of numerous studies indicate that breastfeeding is far superior over infant formula use in ensuring infant development and growth.
WHO, it said, even recommends that mothers breastfeed exclusively for the first six months and continue providing breast milk, along with complementary foods, until age two.
“Research has shown that the babies given breast milk develop fewer respiratory and intestinal diseases, and those given infant formula have a greater chance of developing asthma or allergies, along with obesity.”
Guide
But the need really is a definitive guide to achieve and maintain a healthy population of babies.
Often, Filipino mothers are easily swayed by information from infant formula ads.
They have no way of ascertaining whether the information is true or exaggerated.
It falls, therefore, upon the shoulders of health officials to set the norms for infant formula that gives babies the desired health level.
Compromise
In the final analysis, what matters to multi-national infant formula producers is the profit-loss equation while what matters to our government and UN health officials is the chortle of healthy Filipino infants.
Both should look for and find a happy compromise, one that will be for the best of our steadily rising population of babies.
