Green Options

Renowned researcher Michael Kramer, who has advised the World Health Organization and Unicef, said that he was misquoted after being interviewed regarding supposed benefits of breastmilk.

You may remember the post regarding feminist Joan Wolf, who believes there are very few benefits of breastfeeding, very much in the same style of Hanna Rosin.

In the same Times article, Dr. Michael Kramer was “grossly misrepresented”. He said that the Times completely misquoted him and that he still very much believes in the benefits of breastmilk. He is quite angry at being put on the other side of what he sees as part of his life work. From the Independent:

There really isn’t any controversy about which mode of feeding is more beneficial for the baby and the mother, but when you read the article in The Times it sounds like there is. I’m not aware of any studies that have observed any health benefits of formula feeding. That’s important, and any mother weighing the benefits of breastfeeding vs formula feeding needs to know that.

I consider myself a lactivist. I mean, if there is truly a place in the world for a woman who thinks that babies should be fed what nature made for them, instead of the breastmilk from a distantly related species.

That means I know that breastmilk is simply better than formula.

But now an author and feminist says that we should question the breastmilk/formula debate. Is breastmilk really better, or are the differences so minute that it doesn’t matter what you put in baby’s mouth?

Joan Wolf was interviewed by the Times in the UK, where she said,

The evidence to date suggests it probably doesn’t make much difference if you breastfeed.

She says that many studies contradict one another, and others which show no discernible difference in health benefits. There are numerous claims about breastfeeding, she says, which can’t be proven: