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Is WIC promoting infant formula?
US government could be world’s biggest violator of
the International Code
The United States Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants and Children (WIC) is a massive government program aimed at
ensuring the wellbeing of low-income and nutritionally at-risk
infants, children, and their mothers.
Nearly half of all infants (47 per cent) born in America are
serviced by the program, which aims to provide "nutritious foods to
supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to
health care."
But an article published in 2006 in the International Breastfeeding
Journal[1] raises some very disturbing questions about the role WIC is
playing in promoting infant formula use. While WIC includes
breastfeeding promotion in its budget and the breastfeeding rates
among its clients are steadily increasing, so are the rates for the
population as a whole and WIC clients are lagging well behind the rest
of the country. Since the program’s inception in 1974, the
breastfeeding rates of WIC clients at six months have consistently
been one-third to one-half that of non-WIC mothers, and there is
reason to believe something about the WIC program is discouraging
mothers from breastfeeding.
While it has been demonstrated that low-income mothers are often
less-likely to breastfeed, the statistic of low WIC breastfeeding
rates holds true even when controlling for socioeconomic status,
ethnicity, the mother’s age and the birthweight of the baby. So why
are mothers who are serviced by WIC not breastfeeding as much as the
rest of the country?
George Kent, author of the article in IBJ, points to a number of
possible reasons. First of all, WIC gives out free formula to mothers
who choose not to breastfeed. Mothers assume that if a government
agency is distributing infant formula it must be a healthy and
unproblematic product. This positive image of formula, coupled with
the fact that it is made readily available to mothers who are under
financial strain, makes WIC clients more likely to formula feed.
The mechanism by which WIC distributes formula
might also contribute to low breastfeeding rates among its mothers.
WIC gives its clients vouchers which they can take to stores and
exchange for formula, at no cost to the mothers themselves. WIC pays
the retail price for the baby food, but formula companies give huge
rebates back to the program once vouchers are redeemed. The largest
amount WIC is charged for a tin of formula after rebates is 15 per
cent of the wholesale price.[2]
Rebates amount to a huge contribution to WIC’s budget, which in
2004 was over $5 billion.[3] In addition to this $1.4 billion was
recouped from formula rebates allowing them to extend their services
to an additional two million mothers.[4] It appears that WIC employees
have an incentive to give out formula vouchers, as doing so ultimately
expands their budget and enables them to engage with larger numbers of
at-risk infants and mothers.
It may seem curious that formula companies would sell their formula
for such low prices, but in looking at the larger picture it appears
to be a very shrewd tactic capable of ensuring long-term profits for
the corporations. First, formula companies are not losing much money
by selling their product at only a percentage of the wholesale price.
Formula is incredibly cheap to produce, and both retail and wholesale
prices are much higher than the cost of manufacture.
Secondly, in areas where WIC is highly active, formula prices are
inflated by retailers. Grocers and other merchants are aware that
doing so will lead to greater profits since WIC will be providing
mothers with vouchers, the mothers themselves will not be deterred
from buying high-cost formula. These inflated retail prices at grocery
stores and pharmacies also mean that mothers who aren’t serviced by
WIC end up footing some of the bill of the low-cost formula, recouping
some of the companies’ lost profits.
Thirdly, WIC only provides mothers with formula for a limited time.
Most mothers terminate their relationship with the program after about
a year, and many before that point. The free samples of formula
distributed through WIC help to build a brand loyalty between mother
and company, and it is likely she will buy the same brand of formula
once she is no longer serviced by WIC, or when she has another child.
This ensures continued profits for formula companies.
Similarly, the WIC formula program allows companies access to more
mothers than they could possibly reach on their own. WIC enlists the
mothers and does all the work in terms of ensuring they get free
formula, which is a dream come true for formula companies, who are
spared having to invest resources in targeting mothers with free
samples. WIC does it for them, expanding the companies’ reach and
ensuring that more mothers have their brand of formula in their
cupboards.
It appears that the WIC program is in severe violation of the
International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. Article 6.2
of the Code states "No facility of a health care system should be used
for the purpose of promoting infant formula or other products within
the scope of this Code." WIC can be viewed as part of the health care
system and distributing free formula is undoubtedly a form of
promotion.
Article 6.6 says that formula should only be "distributed for
infants who have to be fed on breastmilk substitutes." There are only
a small number of medical reasons to formula feed. If an infant has a
medical condition such as galactosemia or phenylketonuria, or if a
mother has certain infectious diseases or uses certain pharmaceuticals
or street drugs, breastfeeding is not recommended. Kent estimates that
only about five per cent of American infants are in medical need of
infant formula, yet WIC is prepared to distribute it to all its
clients, nearly half the population of US infants.
WIC must seriously reconsider the role it is playing in promoting
formula use to its clients. It is estimated that at least 720 infant
deaths could be prevented in the US each year if breastfeeding
practices were improved.[5] The fact that WIC’s clients are low-income
parents is a reason to discourage formula feeding rather than
encouraging it, as artificial feeding places added financial strain on
households because of the cost of formula and the hospital bills
associated with less-healthy babies. Improved breastfeeding would also
decrease government expenditures of the health care system.
Kent argues that WIC needs to implement protocols for determining
the small number of its clients for whom breastfeeding is not
recommended. These mothers should receive free formula from WIC for
the duration that their infant needs it. The rest of WIC’s nearly 8
million clients however, must be made thoroughly aware of the benefits
of breastfeeding and the substantial risks associated with artificial
formula, and counselled in proper breastfeeding techniques. This would
help ensure that America’s at-risk infants grow up healthy and have a
better chance of leading successful lives.
George Kent’s article is available online at
http://www.internationalbreastfeedingjournal.com/content/1/1/8
References
1 Kent G. "WIC’s promotion of infant formula
in the United States." International Breastfeeding Journal, 1:8
2006.
2 United States. General Accounting Office.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Budget: Food
Assistance: Information on WIC Sole-source Rebates and Infant
Formula Prices: Report to the Chairman, Committee on the Budget,
House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.; 1998.
3 WIC Food Package: What are the Federal
Regulatory Requirements for WIC-eligible Foods?
Food and Nutrition Service. United States Department of Agriculture;
2004.
4 Richter J: Holding Corporations Accountable:
Corporate Conduct, International Codes, and Citizen Action. London
and New York: Zed Books; 2001.
5 Black RE, Morris SS, Bryce J: Where and why
are 10 million children dying every year? Lancet 2003, 361:2226-2234
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