Breastfeeding is a right, but it cannot become an obligation. Turn artificial milk into a medicine It would have advantages, as it would force the health system to take responsibility for the desired and failed breastfeeding, improving the way of promotion and support by including health specialists who would help more women who want to breastfeed voluntarily, but could pose an undesirable pressure on the women's right over their own bodies.
But nevertheless, the extent of artificial lactation, the poor training of the toilets, advertising have led to the failure of the real promotion of breastfeeding, with strategies designed from the creation of standardized models and rigorous information.
What is artificial milk?
Artificial milks They are produced based on cow's milk. It must be deeply treated because its natural composition is not suitable for the human baby and taking it directly would produce malnutrition and very serious digestive problems.
In Spain they are marketed under two general denominations, leaving aside those formulated for baby's health problems: starter milk and continuation milk. Our classification is common to the European territory and is regulated by the Nutrition Committee of the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (ESPGAN) and by the Scientific Committee for Food (CCA), of the European Union.
However, in the United States and other countries, only one type of milk is used, since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that there is only one type of formula for the entire first year of life and this is very similar to our starter milk .
He that a milk called continuation is used is something that is under discussion, since it is clear that starter milk is more suitable for its composition to the nutritional needs of the baby and using this second formulation is unnecessary.
This milk, taking a simpler process and eliminating less protein is cheaper, but it is further from the model that should be breast milk.
The most relevant about continuation milk is that it can be advertised, which is prohibited in starter milk. That is, in the medical consultation they should never recommend a specific brand, or give samples, or have promotional products that can incite us to one or another brand, or advertise directly.
But this, with the continuation milk is different, and the advertising strategy of the brands is based on them, being the indirect promotion of their starter product a collateral benefit coupled with the promotion of the generic brand.
Modifications of cow's milk
The reduction of the amount of protein It is one of the indispensable elements that make artificial milk a possible food for babies, however, commercial continuation milks have a higher protein load, which implies a greater renal load and the possibility of being overweight.
The fat of cow's milk are assimilated worse than those of breast milk and do not contain long-chain fats, and, even if they are added, the rules on the composition and origin of fats, including trans fats, is by no means , which we could consider optimal. Combining the type of fat better could make the product more expensive by making it difficult to manufacture, but it would have a better nutrition for babies who drink artificial milk.
Combining mineral elements It is also controlled, as the baby needs concentrations as similar as possible to human milk.
There is no study that demonstrates, in the long term, the real effects of the different additives to artificial milk. Because it is considered a food, and not a medicine, the requirements of previous tests on side effects are minimal.
With a medicine it is necessary to demonstrate by means of scientific works, testing it and collecting the data, that it is adequate and that its effects are controlled and known. With artificial milk this has never been done before its sale and is one of the issues that I still think should be solved.
There are drawbacks in the use of artificial milk, scientifically proven and known, but poorly internalized by the general population.
Food or medicine?
We have reviewed so far the history of artificial breastfeeding, the health benefits that could be considered as medication at the organizational level and also what this product really is.
We will see in a next topic the way in which the product is offered to us and the real controls on its quality and distribution, since it is unfortunate that there are still cases of contamination in something so delicate and vital in addition to addressing the benefits and damages that it would entail for the families consider artificial milk a medicine or improve control systems.
