TY - JOUR
T1 - Marketing of commercial milk formula
T2 - a system to capture parents, communities, science, and policy
AU - 2023 Lancet Breastfeeding Series Group
AU - Rollins, Nigel
AU - Piwoz, Ellen
AU - Baker, Phillip
AU - Kingston, Gillian
AU - Mabaso, Kopano Matlwa
AU - McCoy, David
AU - Ribeiro Neves, Paulo Augusto
AU - Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael
AU - Richter, Linda
AU - Russ, Katheryn
AU - Sen, Gita
AU - Tomori, Cecília
AU - Victora, Cesar G.
AU - Zambrano, Paul
AU - Hastings, Gerard
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 World Health Organization
PY - 2023/2/11
Y1 - 2023/2/11
N2 - Despite proven benefits, less than half of infants and young children globally are breastfed in accordance with the recommendations of WHO. In comparison, commercial milk formula (CMF) sales have increased to about US$55 billion annually, with more infants and young children receiving formula products than ever. This Series paper describes the CMF marketing playbook and its influence on families, health professionals, science, and policy processes, drawing on national survey data, company reports, case studies, methodical scoping reviews, and two multicountry research studies. We report how CMF sales are driven by multifaceted, well resourced marketing strategies that portray CMF products, with little or no supporting evidence, as solutions to common infant health and developmental challenges in ways that systematically undermine breastfeeding. Digital platforms substantially extend the reach and influence of marketing while circumventing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Creating an enabling policy environment for breastfeeding that is free from commercial influence requires greater political commitment, financial investment, CMF industry transparency, and sustained advocacy. A framework convention on the commercial marketing of food products for infants and children is needed to end CMF marketing.
AB - Despite proven benefits, less than half of infants and young children globally are breastfed in accordance with the recommendations of WHO. In comparison, commercial milk formula (CMF) sales have increased to about US$55 billion annually, with more infants and young children receiving formula products than ever. This Series paper describes the CMF marketing playbook and its influence on families, health professionals, science, and policy processes, drawing on national survey data, company reports, case studies, methodical scoping reviews, and two multicountry research studies. We report how CMF sales are driven by multifaceted, well resourced marketing strategies that portray CMF products, with little or no supporting evidence, as solutions to common infant health and developmental challenges in ways that systematically undermine breastfeeding. Digital platforms substantially extend the reach and influence of marketing while circumventing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Creating an enabling policy environment for breastfeeding that is free from commercial influence requires greater political commitment, financial investment, CMF industry transparency, and sustained advocacy. A framework convention on the commercial marketing of food products for infants and children is needed to end CMF marketing.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01931-6
DO - 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01931-6
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36764314
AN - SCOPUS:85147606478
SN - 0140-6736
VL - 401
SP - 486
EP - 502
JO - The Lancet
JF - The Lancet
IS - 10375
ER -