I found this information on the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition website. Appearantly, the formula companies attempted to get the ads yanked by throwing money at Congress. According to the website, they pretty much failed. The campaign was launched in 2004. For more info, you can go to the website, which I posted under Favorite Websites.
"The promotion of breastfeeding on a nationwide scale has been called for since the 1984 Surgeon General's Workshop on Breastfeeding and Human Lactation. The Office on Women's Health, an agency within the federal Department of Health and Human Services answered that call with a $40 million ad campaign designed to help mothers choose breastfeeding who would not normally have done so..."
"The campaign reframes the issue of infant feeding in terms of the risks associated with not breastfeeding, as opposed to the more traditional messages which only tout the "benefits" of breastfeeding. The Ad Council reached its conclusion to frame the ads this way after its research found that many women think breastfeeding is like supplementing a "standard diet" with vitamins. The traditional "benefits of breastfeeding" messages thus ignore the copious scientific evidence showing a greater risk for a wide variety of illnesses in children who were not breastfed. Many of these illness are chronic or have life-long health effects, such as type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease..."
"The infant formula industry has traditionally framed infant feeding as a lifestyle choice rather than a public health issue. They said they do not like the campaign because they fear it will make mothers feel guilty, and they question the science behind the ads. The risk-based campaign puts infant feeding back into the domain of public health. In spite of industry pressure, the ad campaign will go on."
Its sad how some mothers are just uninformed about breastfeeding. When a baby is formula fed, then that baby is at risk for certain health problems. I think any mother who is completely informed on this issue could not forego attempting to breastfeed, it just does not make any sense. To try to breastfeed and not be succesfull is fine, but AT LEAST TRY!!
Anyways, on to my thrilling life...
Today we went to meet the minister that will be performing our wedding ceremony. The church he preaches at is very small and intimate, with only about 11 people in the congregation. Beth was telling me that five years ago the Church was packed. Now they don't even have enough people to use the actual church, they sit in the basement instead. It was very different from the catholic ceremony. People pretty much spoke when they wanted. We all held hands in a circle and prayed, and people just shouted out what they felt like shouting. It was different, and I think I liked it, but it dragged on for a very long time! Anyways, the minister was really nice. He gave us a print out of the ceremony and asked us a bunch of questions, like if we had surreneder to God and Jesus and if we are serious about our marriage. I'm pretty happy with the ceremony, but I am going to add a few things.
When we got home I did homework and played with Brooke while Jason did some work outside. Nothing exciting happened. I made Brooke some more baby food and gave her a bath before bedtime. Then I just did homework.
That's about it. Time for bed. Bye!
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