Artificial infant food

(good only for artificial babies!)

This was interesting — the Wikipedia article on Infant formula. I know a lot of people don’t like Wikipedia, but there are citations throughout the article, and it certainly does a good job of encapsulating the topic “in a nutshell.”

In reading one of many breastfeeding books, one of the authors noted that health statistics are usually quoted in a way to make formula feeding seem the norm. For instance, it will talk about how that breastfeeding “reduces the risk” of a baby being obese or becoming diabetic — as if formula-fed infants are the standard, and breastfed infants are the variation. Instead, he pointed out that it would be more accurate to say that formula-feeding increases the risk of a baby being obese or becoming diabetic. Sounds worse that way, doesn’t it? But it’s true.

From the Wikipedia article:

In studies, formula-feeding is associated with increased likelihood of the following conditions in infants:

• Candidiasis
• Diarrhea
• Gastroenteritis
• Haemophilus influenzae
• Meningitis in preterm infants
• Necrotizing Enterocolitis
• Ear Infection
• Pneumococcal Disease
• Respiratory Infections
• Respiratory Syncytial Virus
• Salmonellosis
• Sepsis in Preterm Infants
• Urinary Tract Infections
• Anemia and Iron Deficiency
• Autoimmune Thyroid Disease
• Constipation and Anal fissures
• Undescended Testicle
• Esophogeal and Gastrid Lesions
• Gastroesophogeal Reflex
• Inguinal Hernia
• Morbidity and Mortality
• Pyloric stenosis
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Wheezing
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Eczema
• Lower IQ
• Lower Visual Acuity
• Delayed Speech and Language Development
• Appendicitis
• Lower Bone Mass
• Cancer
• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Celiac Disease
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Haemophilus Influenzae Meningitis
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Crohn’s Disease
• Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Obesity
• Schizophrenia
• Tonsillitis