The economic value of breast-feeding. Food and Agriculture Organization of the the United Nations.
A request from the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1973 led to a research project funded by the Government of Norway to examine the declining use of mother's milk in developing countries. Two consultants were appointed to compile information on the subject, to develop a theoretical model to illustrate the economic value of breastfeeding, and to study the situation in two developing countries, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Lack of data was a problem in both countries, but estimates could be made, and some of the conclusions reached are the following. Breastfeeding is still the norm in both countries, yet if it were to increase in the Ivory Coast so that every infant were breastfed for two years the savings in national goods cost could amount to US$ 16 to 28 million annually. If it declined to the level of Paris in 1955 (chosen for comparison) the annual national cost would be between US$ 33 and 55 million. At the individual level, by breastfeeding rather than artificially feeding an infant for two years the average family in either country would save between US$ 600 and 730 in the cost of goods and time, plus any savings that might result from the avoidance of disease or malnutrition caused by artificial feeding. In Ghana, changes in the infant-feeding pattern due to rural-to-urban migration would cause only a 20-percent increase in formula imports, while import increases would be more than five times as great as this if the present severe restrictions were relaxed so that formula replaced only one percent of the potential national breast-milk production. A change to artificial feeding could possibly result in considerable population growth because of loss of the contraceptive effect (through lactation amenorrhoea) of breastfeeding. In-depth studies of the economics of breastfeeding present great difficulties and would probably not justify their high cost. The report suggests that studies be carried out to establish national infant-feeding patterns, to monitor how these change and determine the factors responsible for change, and to design appropriate intervention. The report recommends that governments assign the highest possible priority to the promotion of breast-feeding based on its already proven contribution to the health and well being of the child.
D001942:Breast Feeding; D002675:Child, Preschool; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D014480:United Nations