QAA Podcast - Trickle Down Episode 14: Like Mothers Milk (Sample)

Starting point is 00:00:00 In the late summer of 1975, two representatives of the multinational food processing giant Nestle visited the pediatric ward at the University of Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. The visit was inspired by self-defense. Activists and journalists were claiming that corporate promotion of infant formula, like that sold by Nestle, was responsible for high rates of infant malnutrition and mortality in poor countries. Nestle had been a pioneer in the manufacturing and sales of infant formula for a century, so such an accusation wasn't merely damaging to their brand, but to them it was outright defamatory. The two Nestle representatives were accompanied by Dr. Elizabeth Hillman, a senior lecturer and pediatrician at the Nairobi Teaching Hospital.

Starting point is 00:00:51 Coincidentally, at that same hospital in the emergency award, There was a severely malnourished infant who was exclusively fed Nestle brand name formula since birth. The representatives wanted to see the infant for themselves. However, the health of the baby collapsed shortly after they arrived. The two Nestle representatives watched in horror as Hillman and the attending medical personnel tried in vain to resuscitate the infant. Hillman later recalled, It was a vivid demonstration of what bottle feeding can do

Starting point is 00:01:21 because this mother was perfectly capable of breastfeeding. They walked out of that room very pale, shaken, and quiet, and there was no need to say anything more. That needless tragedy was the culmination of many decades of infant formula manufacturers cleverly exploiting the trust of doctors and mothers. And as horrifying as it was, that event and countless other tragedies did little to stem the sales of formula worldwide, even to mothers who did not need it. I'm Travis View, and this is Trickledown, a podcast about what happens with bad ideas flow from the top. With me are Julian Field and Jake Rockatansky. Episode 14. Like Mother's Milk.

Starting point is 00:02:05 This is a real sad one. So this episode is inspired in part by a fantastic series of articles, which were published by the Medical Journal of The Lancet last year, which were called Breastfeeding 2023. And I'm going to include those articles at the top of the show notes, if you want to check them out for yourself. And those papers address in always crucial issue, which is infant nutrition. You know, like how we feed babies, young kids greatly impacts their health, growth, and future. And, you know, this affects not only children, but also women and society at large.

Starting point is 00:02:38 Now, while baby formula, it certainly has its uses and literally can be a lifesaver in certain circumstances, it also comes with significant health economic and environmental costs. On the other hand, breastfeeding has proven health benefits. for both mothers and babies in high-income and low-income settings alike. Despite that, according to the World Health Organization, less than half of babies and young children are breastfed as recommended. Now, the advice that the World Health Organization gives is to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months

Starting point is 00:03:10 and to start other foods while continuing to breastfeed for at least two years. So how did this happen? According to that three-paper series in The Lancet, The lack of breastfeeding is due to multifaceted and highly effective strategies used by commercial manufacturers of infant formula. The strategies are designed to target influence parents, healthcare professionals, and policymakers. The industry's dubious marketing practices are compounded by lobbying of governments, often covertly via trade associations and front groups against strengthening breastfeeding protection laws in challenging food standard regulations. It's another instance of a massive industry using their sway to,

Starting point is 00:03:48 only influenced new mothers, but like scientists and doctors that the mother's trust. I was really blown away by that paper. I read it back in February. So I started researching like, you know, kind of like how this happened and the roots of the problem. And it can partly be traced back to infant formulas entry into global markets and the targeting of poor mothers, which was like this huge public issue in the 1970s. When I looked further into it, I learned, thanks to decades of work of scholars who have investigated the matter, that the real roots go even deeper and can be found in the 19th and early 20th century at the beginning of the infant formula industry. It was in this time that the infant formula manufacturers cozyed up to the fledgling

Starting point is 00:04:28 field of pediatrics and leverage the trust in authority placed in doctors in order to sell the formula and consequently decrease the rate of breastfeeding. But before I go into that, I want to clarify why breastfeeding is generally considered superior to formula. Like with the caveat at that I'm a podcaster. I'm very much against getting health advice or like having your health practice dictated by podcasters. Listen, we are, you know, three guy, three middle age guys, two of which are childless talking about infant formula and breastfeeding. So that's something just keep in mind. I'm giving you, I can, I'm citing all my sources. I think that this is, this is solid information. But the same time, like, just, you know, caveat MTOR, just, you know.

Starting point is 00:05:10 I think you need to check your fucking sources on me being middle age, buddy. Yeah, and you can field all complaints to me. Hey there, you've been listening to a sample clip of Trickled Down. This is a side project that I've been working on. It's a 10-episode series about misinformation and bad ideas that flow from high authority sources. I think it's fascinating, and I mean, it's a way for, I guess, me to explore the way people who should know what they're talking about don't always actually. I'm not going to lie, some of it's kind of a bummer, but if you're anything like me, that's actually more. of reason to dive into the subject matter.

Starting point is 00:05:46 Like with the premium episodes of Q&N anonymous, all the episodes of Trickled Down are available to people who support us through Patreon, still the same five bucks a month, double the extra content, same price that we've been doing since 2018. We are inflation-proof. Inflation-proof, inflation-proof.

Starting point is 00:06:14 You know, I'm going to be. I'm going to be able to be. Thank you.

QAA Podcast - Trickle Down Episode 14: Like Mothers Milk (Sample)

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