tuff titties

9th August 2010

Text with 2 notes

leave the herd

i know it seems i’ve been going on and on about breastfeeding lately (see here, here, and here), but i wouldn’t be talking about it so much if it weren’t such a hot topic. the shame now felt by mothers who try to breastfeed their newborns outside of the home, the health benefits linked to natural feeding (those who breastfeed are less likely to develop breast cancer)—there’s something to be said about mother’s milk, good or bad these days.

so in keeping with the trend—and the latest headlines—let’s hope this piece of news scares any haters straight: it’s been reported that parents and doctors in central china fear that hormones in the milk powder they fed their infant daughters have led the babies to develop breasts prematurely. three little girls—ranging in age from 15 months to four years old—who had all been fed the same formula were tested and doctors found their levels of hormones exceeded that of an adult woman’s, showing exceptionally high amounts of estradiol and prolactin.

despite these findings, the formula is still being sold to consumers. in an effort to protect its reputation, synutra, the company is question, released the following statement: “no man-made ‘hormones’ or any illegal substances were added during production.” which all could be well and good, but if farmers use hormones to rear their cattle/livestock, then this is a larger problem than just a few infant pubescent girls. “since a regulation forbidding the use of hormones to cultivate livestock has yet to be drawn up in china, it would be lying to say nobody uses it,” says the southern province of guangdong’s former chairman of the dairy association wang dingmian.

food for thought.

Tagged: breastsbreastfeedingchinaformulahormonesstop being stupid