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economist suntribune health saturday oct 5 2002 23 breastfeeding study criticized from page 22 immune boost there is no way that for mula can duplicate that breastfeeding also reduces a babys risk of ovarian cancer and osteoporosis and can help the mother lose weight because the baby eats up calories ms phillips says breastfeeding reduces environmen tal waste caused by plastic bottles and containers and encourages closeness between mother and baby she says but a recent study disputes what was commonly thought of as a major benefit of breastfeeding longterm preven tion of asthma and allergies the study published last month in the british medical journal the lancet found high er rates of asthma and allergies among breastfed children than in bottlefed children more than 1000 children in dunedin new zealand participated in the study between april 1972 and march 1973 as part of a larger study on child growth the childrens respiratory func tions and asthma symptoms were assessed every two to five years until age 26 allergy tests were done at ages 13 and 21 no breastfeeding isnt the most perfect but its mostly perfect and wonderful elisabeth sterken a nutritionist and director of infact canada a coalition that works to promote protect and sup port breastfeeding faults the study which was funded by the health research council of new zealand for using research from the 1970s in that decade when the study began it was hard to find mothers who solely breastfed ms sterken says formula was used liberally in hospi tals she says babies would be in the nursery if the baby would get hungry the baby would get formula but dr malcolm sears a professor of medicine at mcmaster university in hamilton who conducted the studys research with colleagues at mcmaster and the university of otago in new zealand says he took these mixed feed ing practices into account thats acknowledged in the paper that almost every baby got a bit of bottle feeding dr sears says adding the increased risk of asthma and allergies was still there even if children were exclusively breastfed few babies were exclusively breast fed for as many as six months he says of the approximately 500 participants only about 38 were breastfed for this long he says dr sears admits his study contra dicts findings of previous studies that found the risk of asthma decreased when breastmilk was used but he adds this is because previous studies exam ined shortterm effects while his exam ined longterm effects those past studies showed breast- milk reduces early childhood wheezing associated with viruses whereas his study showed breastmilk does not pro tect against allergyrelated asthma in the long term he and his colleagues are not advo cating women stop breastfeeding dr sears stresses mrs galpin has continued and now enjoys feeding her fivemonthold son no breastfeeding isnt the most per fect and easy thing to do in the world but its mostly perfect and wonderful she says i wont be stopping any time soon public breastfeeding debate continues ann ciniglio believes women should be able to breastfeed in public any time they want ifs a mothers right and an infants right to breastfeed any place any time says ms ciniglio a public health nurse and member of the breastfeeding coalition of york region nancy phillips a leader with the thornhill west group of the pro- breastfeeding organization la leche league agrees a baby has a right to eat just like the rest of us ms phillips says six years ago a newmarket mother fought for the right when she filed a complaint with the human rights commission after a waitress said the mother was offending other customers by breastfeeding her baby during lunch when the wait ress asked the mother to either stop feeding the baby or go into the bathroom the woman was horri fied the owner of the restaurant eventu ally apologized and as part of a human rights settlement with the mother the restaurant agreed to formulate and publicize a breast feeding policy consistent with the ontario human rights code in recent years restaurants and other public places have become more accommodating to breast feeding ms ciniglio says adding a government program encourages restaurants to show they are breastfeeding friendly by posting a sticker with a silhouette of a mother breastfeeding her baby were seeing more and more restaurants come out and support breastfeeding in their establish ments ms ciniglio says comfortable rooms with rocking chairs for breastfeeding are appear ing in malls while churches and synagogues are reserving rooms for breastfeeding during services ms phillips says the official policy in most public places is breastfeeding is allowed but the truth is it is usually individ uals like a patron in a restaurant who speaks up about being uncomfortable with breastfeeding she says breasts are sexual objects its hard for people to wrap their minds around the fact that it is a means of food delivery ms phillips says but with more women breastfeed ing ms phillips thinks people will become more accepting more and more women are breast feeding and i think its just a matter of time before we see a cultural shift she says its a slow social change just like any other public health measures asthma we can help call the lung association the zn lung association this message brought to you as a community service ol the economist suntribune path positive increase awareness creativity using art therapy 6 week workshop beginning oct 15 730900 pm cost 120 no art ability necessary 905 4714112 v i your body is changing your life doesnt have to more than 30 million american women are menopausal more are approaching this time of personal transition during which various forms of hormone therapy become necessary to help treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes fj j weight gain moodiness and sleep disturbances bioidentical hormone replacement therapy may be an effective solution for those women who want another option to synthetic hormone therapy 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