I set out to collect data and found it to be easier said than done. With different statistics coming from different sources and conflicting with others, I quickly got fed up and reduced the amount of data I was looking for. Formula revenue by country was impossible to find. The breastfeeding rates I found tended to be slightly inaccurate (some censuses didn't specify whether the rates given were for exclusively breastfed babies, or just babies who were breastfed at all). There were even discrepancies among circumcision rates. Some countries I wanted to include but couldn't find sufficient data, other countries I hadn't planned on including but came across usable statistics. But overall I was able to compile enough data to give a general idea.
And so I present to you my findings, however roughly estimated they are. Please note the slight change on Canada's graph: instead of babies still breastfed at 6 months, it is babies still breastfed at 9 months (the only data I could find).
USA - Private health care. Approximate $4 Billion infant formula industry.
UK - Free public health care, but ranked very poorly among its neighboring nations. Illegal to advertise infant formula.
Sweden - Free public health care, ranked highly among the rest of the world.
Canada - Free public health care.
Australia - Health care provided by both private and government institutions.
The only real conclusion that you can draw from this is what was stated in the beginning: American doctors and formula companies are greedy and will take advantage of your baby just to make a quick buck. It does seem that countries where doctors can't make a huge profit off of circumcision tend to have much lower rates. And it certainly seems that the lower the circumcision rate, the higher the breastfeeding rate. Are they directly related? No one can be sure, but I believe that there is a significant correlation. I think it is also interesting to note that most of the other countries presented have signed the World Health Organization Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes, preventing the advertising of infant formula and the distribution of free samples. Some countries actually enforce it more than others.
Canada is the only country with a statistic showing babies still being nursed at 9 months rather than 6 months (yey!)I couldn't find any stats for babies at 6 months still being nursed but I would imagine it would be very high. Comparable perhaps to Australia.
ReplyDeleteDoctors can still make money from Circ here (Canada) but it is not covered by our federal health care system. So parents have to pay out of their pocket to have the procedure done. It is not mentioned in the hospital by anyone, ever. It needs to be asked for. Most people trust our health care system. The fact that it does not recommend nor endorse circumcision, doesn't cover its costs and has deemed it 'cosmetic' helps. Unfortunately though, for some, cosmetics is a reason to circumcise. For that reason, Canada needs to stand up and say it's not just unnecessary, it's wrong.
I've been wanting to take a really close look at the differences in western culture and Asia. Recently I came across a discussion about circumcision and SIDS being related. You touched on circ and formula feeding being related well we all know formula increases the chances of SIDS. In china SIDS is unheard of, as are cribs and routine infant circumcision. hmmm?
Hmm... that's actually very interesting (what you said about China), I'll have to take a look at that...
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