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… Say half of the pregnant women, parents exposed to illegal marketing

By Chioma Obinna

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organisation, WHO, and partners have called on governments, health workers, as well as the baby food industry to end exploitative formula milk marketing by ensuring full implementation of the Code for marketing breast milk substitutes.

This is coming on the heels of a new report by the duo that revealed that over half of parents and pregnant women (51 per cent) have been exposed to the marketing of infant formula globally.

Some of the Code requirements include; the passing, monitoring, and enforcing laws to prevent the promotion of formula milk, in line with the International Code, including prohibiting nutrition and health claims made by the formula milk industry, investing in policies and programmes to support breastfeeding, including adequate paid parental leave in line with international standards.

Others are; ensuring high-quality breastfeeding support, requesting industry to publicly commit to full compliance with the Code and subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions globally, and banning health workers from accepting sponsorship from companies that market foods for infants and young children for scholarships, awards, grants, meetings, or events.

Reacting to the report, WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the new report showed very clearly that formula milk marketing remains unacceptably pervasive, misleading, and aggressive. 

According to him, regulations on exploitative marketing must be urgently adopted and enforced to protect children’s health.

Also, the UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell added that false and misleading messages about formula feeding are a substantial barrier to breastfeeding, “which we know is best for babies and mothers.

“We need robust policies, legislation, and investments in breastfeeding to ensure that women are protected from unethical marketing practices — and have access to the information and support they need to raise their families.”

The new report on “How marketing of formula milk influences our decisions on infant feeding” draws on interviews with parents, pregnant women, and health workers in eight countries – Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Viet Nam.

The report also uncovered systematic and unethical marketing strategies used by the formula milk industry to influence parents’ infant feeding decisions.

It also found that industry marketing techniques include unregulated and invasive online targeting; sponsored advice networks and helplines; promotions and free gifts; and practices to influence training and recommendations among health workers.

The report noted that the messages that parents and health workers receive are often misleading, scientifically unsubstantiated, and violate the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes – a landmark public health agreement passed by the World Health Assembly in 1981 to protect mothers from aggressive marketing practices by the baby food industry.

One of the respondents from Lagos in the report explained that advertisements will make her buy infant formula – “I see a beautiful and chubby baby on TV, well-fed and smiling and there is a container of milk there with all the nutritional facts on it, detailed.”

The effects of marketing in Nigeria are seen in recommendations from health professionals and on digital platforms, with companies using data-driven algorithms to target digital advertising to women whose online behaviour suggests they may be pregnant.  Digital influencers make regular posts about formula milk – including celebrities, paediatricians, so-called experts, and ‘mom influencers.’  

Vanguard News Nigeria