Cost to the US healthcare system of formula feeding?

[RachelGS]

Where's that stat? I know I've seen it-- the average yearly cost of formula-related illnesses in the US. Anybody know?

[not now]

What is a formula related illness? Any illness that only a formula fed baby gets? What if it's the same kind of illness that a breast fed baby can get? What about baby's that are fed both? What if a breast fed baby goes to daycare with a formula fed baby and gets sick from them? Is it still a formula related illness? What about the fact that formula fed baby's are more likely to be in daycare so they are exposed to more germs therefor they get sick more often? Does that count? Is it just baby's or is it adults who have conditions that could be attributed to formula feeding? How does one decide that an adult condition is due to being formula fed as an infant?

Not wanting to cause a stir but I'm just a breast feeding mom who asks a lot of questions regarding studies regarding health care.

[frontierpsych]

They probably take the average health care cost of a formula-fed baby and subtract the average health care cost of a breastfed baby over the first year. That'd be the easiest way to go about it, though as always I'm sure there are other socioeconomic factors to consider, but this would at least give us a basic idea...

[MonkeysRUs]

Links for you

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/pre...tbenefits.html

(make sure you scroll down)

http://www.babyreference.com/InfantDeaths.htm

http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/a...fits/index.php

[NoraB]

I'm sure the healthcare costs are HUGE and very far reaching. How many effects of not breastfeeding do we have that affect adults?

I've heard it suggested that the issues we have w/ cholesterol (though I think the mainstream ideas about cholesterol may be seriously misguided) may be related to the fact that formula has no cholesterol and breastmilk has it in abundance. Perhaps the infant's body needs lots of cholesterol or it doen't learn to process it properly and leads to difficulties w/ cholesterol as adults.

[tinyblackdot]

Does anyone have links to the amount of money WIC spends on Formula a year? And how many mothers whe are on WIC use formual over BM?

I

[kriket]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

I'm sure there are other socioeconomic factors to consider, but this would at least give us a basic idea...

yes, lower income and minority women have less access to decent BFing advice

Originally Posted by tinyblackdot

Does anyone have links to the amount of money WIC spends on Formula a year? And how many mothers whe are on WIC use formual over BM?

I would love to know this. I know WIC does everything it can to get women to BF but when you are offering free formula (and I understand why they do) its hard to stick to BFing

[ramama]

In early postpartum period: 77.8% non-WIC, 56.8% WIC
At 6 months: 40.7% non-WIC, 20.1% WIC
At 12 months: 22.1% non-WIC, 12.6% WIC

From Mother's Milk by Bernice Hausman

I think I read that WIC buys $600 million worth of formula every year (they are the largest buyer of infant formula in the country, and they also get some for "free"), but I believe that statistic is from the mid 1990's and I don't have the book at hand right now.

[BananaBreadGirl]

Originally Posted by ramama

In early postpartum period: 77.8% non-WIC, 56.8% WIC
At 6 months: 40.7% non-WIC, 20.1% WIC
At 12 months: 22.1% non-WIC, 12.6% WIC

From Mother's Milk by Bernice Hausman

I think I read that WIC buys $600 million worth of formula every year (they are the largest buyer of infant formula in the country, and they also get some for "free"), but I believe that statistic is from the mid 1990's and I don't have the book at hand right now.

WA state stats, for comparison, are higher/better than that, but the chart doesn't compare to non-WIC.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/WIC/bf_rates.htm

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

They probably take the average health care cost of a formula-fed baby and subtract the average health care cost of a breastfed baby over the first year. That'd be the easiest way to go about it, though as always I'm sure there are other socioeconomic factors to consider, but this would at least give us a basic idea...

With a large enough sample size, that would likely work okay.

[MaryJaneLouise]

Here are two very interesting articles on WIC and how much it costs the US taxpayer:

The high price of infant formula in the United States by GEORGE KENT

WIC's promotion of infant formula in the United States
George Kent