Picture: https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/new-anti-dairy-posters-appear-on-london-and-bristol-buses
Follow-Up milk is Not Necessary
Nona D. Andaya-Castillo, IBCLC
Amelia, a mother of three consulted Nanay Nona when she gave birth to her second child. At that time, she was breastfeeding her three-month old daughter, and was giving her an average of 16 ounces of formula a day due to the fear that she did not have enough breastmilk to sustain her. She decided to get professional help and tearfully recounted her grueling experience in breastfeeding her firstborn son. “That night after my consultation with Nanay Nona, I threw away all bottles, teats and formula milk, and breastfed exclusively,” she proudly recalled. When she gave birth to another boy two years later, she breastfed the last two children at the same time as it was difficult for her to turn down her daughter’s request to breastfeed especially when she says a prayer of thanksgiving before she nurses.
Before her daughter started her solids, Nanay Nona held a cooking demonstration in Amelia’s house where she invited some friends. After that session, she weaned her eldest child from his follow-up milk. Her friends who attended the session also did the same when they learned the hazards of consuming milk and the excellent sources of calcium from indigenous foods. Many of them continued to breastfeed beyond two years.
What’s wrong with follow-up milk?
The consumption of formula and/or follow-up milk exposes children to the same risks. Many follow-up milks are cow’s milk-based and nutritional experts like Dr. Frank Oski, former director of pediatrics of Johns Hopkins University, Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (www.pcrm.org) and even former dairy producers like John Robbins (www.foodrevolution.org) have warned against the short and long-term effects of consuming cow’s milk. Go to Milk and Diseases.
Many mothers who are aware of these issues against cow’s milk mistakenly switch to follow-up milk that are soya-based not knowing that there are also hazards in its excessive use and that they are also exposed to the same industrial errors that can occur on cow’s milk-based follow-up formulas.
When a child whines due to hunger and his mother provides him with follow-up milk instead of fruits and vegetables, she deprives her child an opportunity to learn a variety of tastes and textures. These children will invariably develop as picky eaters because formula milk disrupts good eating habits.
How did follow-up milk come about?
In 1978, the late Dr. Natividad Clavano appeared before the US Senate to present her study of 10,000 babies that showed a decrease of at least 94% in diarrhea and infant deaths when they instituted the first rooming-in program and banned formula milk at the Baguio General Hospital. Impressed, Senator Ted Kennedy challenged the World Health Organization (WHO) to do something about these deaths and diseases affecting children.
In 1981, the WHO issued a resolution that protects mothers and babies from unethical marketing practices and false health claims of milk companies that disempowers mothers to breastfeed. The resolution is known as the International Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and other Related Products.
Anticipating a possible decrease in sales, milk companies tried to circumvent the International Code and marketed follow-up milk for toddlers, milk supplements for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and the elderly banking on the fear of “improper brain development” and “osteoporosis”.
In 1986, with the proliferation of follow-up milk promotion and sales, the World Health Assembly (WHA) composed of health ministers around the world, issued WHA Resolution No. 39.28 stating that “the practice being introduced in some countries of providing infants with specially formulated milks, so calledfollow-up milk is not necessary”.
When Cory Aquino became President in 1986, she institutionalized the International Code in the Philippines through an Executive Order more popularly known as E.O.51 that even stipulated sanctions against violators.
With many news of the sale of contaminated milk to the unknowing public, many mothers are now easily convinced to switch to indigenous food, a healthy option which is based on international recommendations.
The ideal is to begin the consumption of these foods even before pregnancy and stick to it during pregnancy and breastfeeding to preserve or improve the mother’s nutritional status. Babies of mothers who eat unpolished rice and indigenous foods are healthier, heavier and develop an appetite for healthier food options even in later years.
Go to Nutrition to learn excellent sources of calcium from plants.
Before her daughter started her solids, Nanay Nona held a cooking demonstration in Amelia’s house where she invited some friends. After that session, she weaned her eldest child from his follow-up milk. Her friends who attended the session also did the same when they learned the hazards of consuming milk and the excellent sources of calcium from indigenous foods. Many of them continued to breastfeed beyond two years.
What’s wrong with follow-up milk?
The consumption of formula and/or follow-up milk exposes children to the same risks. Many follow-up milks are cow’s milk-based and nutritional experts like Dr. Frank Oski, former director of pediatrics of Johns Hopkins University, Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (www.pcrm.org) and even former dairy producers like John Robbins (www.foodrevolution.org) have warned against the short and long-term effects of consuming cow’s milk. Go to Milk and Diseases.
Many mothers who are aware of these issues against cow’s milk mistakenly switch to follow-up milk that are soya-based not knowing that there are also hazards in its excessive use and that they are also exposed to the same industrial errors that can occur on cow’s milk-based follow-up formulas.
When a child whines due to hunger and his mother provides him with follow-up milk instead of fruits and vegetables, she deprives her child an opportunity to learn a variety of tastes and textures. These children will invariably develop as picky eaters because formula milk disrupts good eating habits.
How did follow-up milk come about?
In 1978, the late Dr. Natividad Clavano appeared before the US Senate to present her study of 10,000 babies that showed a decrease of at least 94% in diarrhea and infant deaths when they instituted the first rooming-in program and banned formula milk at the Baguio General Hospital. Impressed, Senator Ted Kennedy challenged the World Health Organization (WHO) to do something about these deaths and diseases affecting children.
In 1981, the WHO issued a resolution that protects mothers and babies from unethical marketing practices and false health claims of milk companies that disempowers mothers to breastfeed. The resolution is known as the International Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and other Related Products.
Anticipating a possible decrease in sales, milk companies tried to circumvent the International Code and marketed follow-up milk for toddlers, milk supplements for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and the elderly banking on the fear of “improper brain development” and “osteoporosis”.
In 1986, with the proliferation of follow-up milk promotion and sales, the World Health Assembly (WHA) composed of health ministers around the world, issued WHA Resolution No. 39.28 stating that “the practice being introduced in some countries of providing infants with specially formulated milks, so calledfollow-up milk is not necessary”.
When Cory Aquino became President in 1986, she institutionalized the International Code in the Philippines through an Executive Order more popularly known as E.O.51 that even stipulated sanctions against violators.
With many news of the sale of contaminated milk to the unknowing public, many mothers are now easily convinced to switch to indigenous food, a healthy option which is based on international recommendations.
The ideal is to begin the consumption of these foods even before pregnancy and stick to it during pregnancy and breastfeeding to preserve or improve the mother’s nutritional status. Babies of mothers who eat unpolished rice and indigenous foods are healthier, heavier and develop an appetite for healthier food options even in later years.
Go to Nutrition to learn excellent sources of calcium from plants.