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Best Health Blog
Milking the issue
Just a little over a year ago, Facebook shut down profile accounts with photos of women nursing their kids. There’s now a revolt within the social network with more than 500 groups on breastfeeding, including the “Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!” group with more than 180,000 members, and “Breastfeeding in Canada, a call to our Government!” which is petitioning for funding for Newman Breastfeeding Clinic in Toronto.
Also, less than six months ago, a woman who was breastfeeding her child in a Vancouver H&M was escorted to a change room to feed her hungry child, which sparked a protest at the retailer. Has the controversy over breastfeeding in public overshadowed the whole point? Perhaps we need a few health-boosting reminders. Here’s the latest research on why women nurse:
• Breastfeeding at night reduces the risk of tooth decay for babies, shows a study in the journal Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology.
• Boys who weren’t breastfed are more likely to be overweight or obese, according to the medical journal Pediatrics International.
• Infants who weren’t breastfed are less happy than those who were, reports the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
• Kids who are exclusively breastfed may end up smarter indicate findings in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
• Breast milk boosts babies’ immune systems, shows research from Pediatric Nephrology.
• And for mothers, nursing burns roughly 300 to 600 calories per day, which can help them lose the weight gained during pregnancy.
Is breastfeeding a public decency issue or a health issue? How do you feel about women nursing in public? Have you gotten any reactions from feeding your own child?
By Lisa Hannam
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2 Comments
Last I heard, women in this country had won the right to go topless if they choose. So why would a photo of a breastfeeding mother even be an issue from a public decency standpoint?
If a mother needs to breastfeed for the best health of her child while she happens to be out in public, other people have to mind their own business and get with the times. I recognize that this may not be what many of us were raised with (including me), but it is the way things are now.
Move on, people!
I think that this is ridiculous! Only in the Western World would nourishing your child be considered obscene! As an avid world traveler, I've seen women breast feeding their babies in other countries (some that are FAR more conservative than the US or Canada), in public, and no one bats an eye. Breast feeding is natural and healthy for both mother and baby and by "censoring" pics of this, Facebook is making breast feeding seem like an elicit act! I don't agree...