Opinion: In My View - Call the law on baby milk
Andrew Radford, deputy executive director, UNICEF UK
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Parents in the UK are being misled by baby milk adverts which are supposed to be illegal, reveals a report by the National Childbirth Trust, Save the Children and UNICEF UK. Baby milk manufacturers are exploiting loopholes in the law to continue advertising their products on TV and in parenting magazines.
It is illegal in the UK to advertise milk for babies under six months old. This is so that parents have the information and support they need to make feeding choices free from commercial pressure.
Breast-fed babies are protected from severe intestinal and respiratory infections as well as long-term diseases like diabetes, heart disease and obesity. However, the promotion of baby milk leaves many parents confused about what's best, meaning that fewer babies are breast-fed and more mothers use bottles before they want to.
The Government is currently redrafting the legislation on formula marketing, so it has a perfect opportunity to close the loopholes and ensure that the law does its job properly.
The charities' report, A weak formula for legislation: how loopholes in the law are putting babies at risk, calls on the Government to prohibit all formula milk advertising so that parents can decide how to feed their babies based on impartial and accurate information from health professionals, not on advertising and promotional messages from commercial interests.
Crucial to this argument is the fact that advertising and information are very different things. Advertising is what companies do to persuade mothers to bottle-feed, while information is provided by the NHS and charities to tell parents about their feeding options. Sadly, at present, baby milk manufacturers spend ten times more money advertising their milks than the Government spends promoting breastfeeding.
