Why do mothers in the Philippines have to buy milk powder for their babies when dieting?

Is milk powder as good as breast milk? Mothers in poverty-stricken areas in the Philippines believe that they should also buy milk powder for their children when dieting.

"Drinking formula milk powder can improve your baby's IQ and EQ, and help your baby succeed in life!"

do these slogans sound familiar?

It is reported that this is the advertising slogan used by many milk powder brands in the Philippines. According to the report, a recent survey by the British newspaper The Guardian and Save the Children found that some formula companies still use strong and secret illegal means to publicize and encourage mothers in poverty-stricken areas in the Philippines to use formula instead of breastfeeding.

This practice not only violates the laws of the Philippines, but also blatantly violates the relevant international codes.

▲ Jovelyn, a 32-year-old girl, feeds her 5-month-old baby with milk powder in Galokan, Philippines?

The survey found that Nestle and three other companies offered various free sponsorship activities to doctors, midwives and local medical staff in the poorest parts of the Philippines, including luxury meetings, meals, tickets for performances, movie tickets and even gambling chips, in exchange for recommending their milk powder to their mothers.

It is known that only 34% Filipino mothers will exclusively breastfeed their babies in the first six months. Representatives from Nestle, Abbott, Mead Johnson and Wyeth (now owned by Nestle) often hang out in major hospitals in the Philippines. They will distribute "Infant Nutrition" manuals to mothers, accompanied by various coupons from time to time. This seems to be a kind of medical advice, but it is actually recommending their milk powder brands.

In addition, hospital staff were also found to recommend specific milk powder brands to novice mothers on the "must buy" list. These brands will also cooperate with influential "hot mom bloggers" on social media ... This means that new mothers are being exposed to the unprecedented promotion of milk powder.

However, all the milk powder companies involved in the investigation rejected this accusation and denied any misconduct.

Milk powder is as good as breast milk?

Advertising marketing lures mothers to buy milk powder?

Mothers living in the run-down suburbs of Manila say that they often save their ration money to buy milk powder for their children, and three-quarters of their monthly income is spent on milk powder.

In TV milk powder advertisements, milk powder brands often claim that their milk powder can make babies smarter, thus contributing to a successful life. These advertisements convince mothers that milk powder feeding is not only as beneficial to children's health as breastfeeding, but also can improve their IQ.

In addition, slogans such as "Clinical experiments have proved that (this milk powder) can make babies have high emotional intelligence and high IQ" are flashing in some milk powder shops.

For mothers struggling in poverty, this marketing method is very attractive.

in Malabon, one of the poorest places in Manila, 24-year-old Jessica wat sat in her neighbor's kitchen, recalling her previous sacrifice to buy Nestogen for her 2-year-old daughter Trista. Breastfeeding has always been difficult, and the local society's knowledge is that milk powder is as good as breast milk, so she began to buy milk powder.

▲24-year-old Jessica and her 2-year-old daughter are emaciated

They are extremely emaciated, with prominent cheeks and collarbone. Jessica is obviously malnourished. The same is true of her 2-year-old daughter Trista, whose swollen belly is covered by a pink T-shirt ... The average monthly cost of buying Nestogen milk powder is about 2, pesos (about 242 RMB), while Jessica can only afford 8 pesos (about 97 yuan RMB) per month.

"I don't eat much to make my children eat milk powder," Jessica said. "Sometimes I don't eat much for a few days. Nestogen is very expensive. I can't feed her every time she is hungry. I only let her drink half a bottle every time, four times a day. "

▲ Jessica's formula for her daughter only allows her to drink half a bottle at a time?

Jessica's home is made of discarded plywood, old iron and plastic plates. In the absence of running water and electricity, Jessica admits that it is difficult for her to sterilize the bottle, and the water temperature used to make milk powder can not meet the requirements.

"My daughter is in poor health and was hospitalized for diarrhea and asthma three times."

The World Health Organization clearly stipulates in the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes that milk powder companies are prohibited from targeting mothers and health care workers directly and restricting the contents of advertisements. Promoting milk powder in poor countries is even more special, because babies are at higher risk of pneumonia and diarrhea, and mothers are less likely to know the benefits of breastfeeding because of lack of access to health care workers.

The strategy of directly targeting mothers and assisting mothers violates Philippine laws and internationally recognized codes. The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, which was drafted in 1981, was caused by large-scale protests because Nestle claimed that milk powder was better than breast milk in marketing.

"sneaking around"?

Milk powder companies exchange financial convenience for the loyalty of medical staff

Although Nestle claims that it has already rectified this problem, similar practices that were condemned by the world 4 years ago are still prevalent in developing China countries. The report of Save the Children pointed out that milk powder companies systematically violated this code, which had a disastrous impact on infant health and mortality. The leading companies in the milk powder industry spend an average of 36 pounds (about 317 yuan) on every baby born in the world, and East Asia with high birth rate and rapid economic growth is the main goal of milk powder companies.

▲ 19-year-old Trixia feeds her 4-month-old daughter with milk powder from a bottle near Manila, Philippines?

"What milk powder companies are doing now is sneaking around," said Dr. Amado Parawan, who has worked with Save the Children for 2 years.

"On the surface, they have improved. But in fact, they bypass the international code of breast milk substitutes and often visit midwives and doctors outside office hours and have meals with them. "

Julian Burris is a medical representative of GlaxoSmithKline and has been working in the hospital with representatives of milk powder companies since 29. In his description, a culture of capital dependence has been formed between the two. Once doctors want to attend some expensive medical conferences (usually held in luxury hotels or abroad), they will ask for sponsorship from milk powder companies, and sometimes they are allowed to bring their partners. Representatives of milk powder companies will also pay for "leisure activities" for doctors and their families, such as tickets for Cirque du Soleil and meals in popular restaurants.

Burris also found that in the hospital canteen, representatives of milk powder companies would hold some "parenting" and "nutrition" forums, and at the same time give away some brand free gifts, such as umbrellas and bottles.

All these practices violate Philippine laws.

Although not every woman chooses to breastfeed, or can breastfeed, formula milk powder is often a necessity, but the mass bombing of marketing, repeated advertisements on TV and social media, and free gifts all make some wrong information openly conveyed and misled.

In a health center in Malabang, Grace Shelo Almarez, a midwife, admitted that before receiving the training, like many others, she often ate and drank with people from Nestle, Mead Johnson and Wyeth, and they also provided herself with sponsorship fees for many meetings.

last October, Nestle also offered her a free business trip to Yilang, but she refused.

"In return, if a patient decides to drink milk powder, I must recommend Nestle milk powder. They are very convincing and make people feel that their products are really good for newborn mothers and babies. "

▲ Grace, the midwife, visits Jessica and her daughter?

Save the Children's survey also shows how powerful the global milk powder promotion campaign is: in Mexico, only 31% of babies drink pure breast milk in the first six months, and 5% of mothers say that they have been recommended by doctors for formula milk powder; In Chile, 75% of doctors, nurses and midwives have said that they were visited by representatives of milk powder companies.

"We strongly object"

All milk powder companies denied any misconduct

However, in the statement to The Guardian, all milk powder companies denied any misconduct.

Nestle said that the company will "investigate all the behaviors reported" and "take prompt action once any misconduct is found". In the statement, Nestle also said, "For mothers and babies, the first and most important expression we have to express is to respect breastfeeding and abide by the laws and the most stringent procedures of the company. We strongly oppose the allegations that Nestlé does not comply with its legal obligations and WTO rules. "

Abbott told the Guardian that the company is "committed to abiding by the ethical standards in marketing products and observing the laws and regulations of various countries when conducting business", adding that "what you said is inconsistent with our company's policies, and we will take all acts that do not comply with the regulations seriously."

Mead Johnson said that at present, they "haven't received any violation reports pointed out in the reports, and Mead Johnson will investigate all the reports received according to the facts and information ... We fully abide by the existing laws and regulations to guide our production, distribution and marketing work."