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• PETA Supports California Breast-Feeding Bill •
“There are 4,000 species of mammals, and they all make a different milk. Human milk is made for human infants and it meets all their specific nutrient needs.”
—Ruth Lawrence, M.D., professor of pediatrics and obstetrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine; spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“Failure to utilize breast milk as the food for all children for at least the first year of life leads to increased risk of poor health and development for both infants and mothers.”
—United States Department of Health and Human Services (Web site)
 Studies show that: up to 30 percent of type 1 diabetes cases could be prevented by removing cow’s milk from the diet of 90 percent of the population in the first three months; that bottle-fed infants were at almost twice the risk of developing respiratory illness during the first seven years of life; that cognitive development is significantly better in breast-fed children and the developmental benefits of breast-feeding increased with duration of feeding; and that breast-feeding decreases rates of death for infants, including SIDS.
Human breast milk is, of course, the ideal food for human infants. The advantages of breast-feeding for the mother and infant are numerous and well supported by more than two decades of research. Breast milk has the perfect mix of nutrients; it is always fresh, clean, and the right temperature; it contains antibodies that help protect a baby from infections; and it’s easy for the baby to digest. In addition to the health benefits just outlined, breast-fed infants have lower rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and an array of other medical problems than bottle-fed babies.
Until around 1950, almost all U.S. newborns were nursed. In the last 50 years, however, large-scale manufacturing and aggressive marketing of infant formula has resulted in decreasing rates of breast-feeding. As Representative Carolyn Maloney has noted, “The United States has one of the lowest breast-feeding rates of all industrialized nations and one of the highest rates of infant mortality.” Indeed, the states with the lowest rates of breast-feeding also have the highest rates of infant mortality. Click here to learn more.
Painting by artist and devout Catholic Susan Saladino. For more information about Susan's work, please visit http://www.twoscompany-ny.com/.
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