Formula milk and tobacco are the only two products that require international guidelines to regulate marketing.
Findings of the Study
To date, only 25 countries have fully implemented the code into legislation. Sales of formula milk have more than doubled while breastfeeding rates have only slightly increased over the past 40 years. The formula milk industry is now worth more than $55 billion annually.
The WHO report notes that more than half of the 8,500 parents across the countries surveyed reported exposure to marketing. The countries were Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The marketing violated the code.
Ninety-seven percent of the women surveyed in China had exposure to formula milk marketing. It was 92% in Vietnam and 84% in the United Kingdom. More than a third of the women across the countries said health workers recommended a specific brand for them to use.
The Access to Nutrition Initiative published an index in 2021 that found some companies more compliant with the code than others. Danone marketing is 68% compliant with rules. Nestle is at 56%. Three of the leading Chinese companies all scored zero. These are Felhe, Mengniu, and Yili.
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