ILANA SIRKOVICH, RN, IBCLC, BScN

 Many new moms that face a dilemma of choosing between breastmilk and formula don’t realize immediate and long-term risks of artificial milk. This is very important to get full information from reliable sources before making a decision that significantly affects children’s health.

Health problems, caused by artificial milk, may appear at the later stages of children’s life. All the facts about risks of formula to children’s health listed below were collected by INFACT Canada, are evidence based and supported by scientific research.



 A study of 2184 children done by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and supported by another 15 researches determined that the risk of asthma was approximately 50% higher when infants were formula - fed compared to infants who were breastfed for nine months or longer.



 Three researches concluded that infants who were formula-fed experienced three times the severity of respiratory tract illness and required more frequent hospitalizations compared to infants who had been breastfed exclusively for four months or longer.



 Breastfeeding significantly reduces the episodes of otitis media during infancy.



 Early introduction of infant formula and cow’s milk increases the incidence of Type I and Type II diabetes later in the life.



 Breastfeeding lowers blood pressure in later life. Breastmilk may program fat metabolism in later life, resulting in lower blood cholesterol levels and therefore a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases.



 Children who were never breastfed had a 21% greater risk of dying in the postneonatal period than those who were breastfed. Longer breastfeeding was associated with lower risk.

 The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1.5 million infants die around the world every year because they are not breastfed.

 In March 2009 a group of German scientists published a new research in “Pediatrics”, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, showing that breastfeeding reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome by 50%.



 Four researches concluded that greater duration of breastfeeding reflected greater risk reduction of childhood cancers.



 Large Scottish study looked at body-mass index of 32,200 children leading to the conclusion that formula feeding is associated with an increase in childhood obesity risk.



 Seventeen studies concluded that gastrointestinal conditions are more frequent for those who are formula-fed.



    Twelve infants developed necrotizing enterocolitis and two infants died in Belgium in 2001 because of contaminated formula.

    Several infants were hospitalized in intensive care units in Israel in 2003 with severe encephalopathy and two died of cardiomyopathy after consuming defective soy-based formula.

    More than 50,000 cases of nephrolithiasis and renal failure causing at least 4 deaths had been reported in China in 2008, linked to consumption of powdered formula contaminated with melamine.



  Four researches in different countries concluded that breastfeeding has long-term beneficial effects on a person’s life through its influence on childhood cognitive and educational development.