ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Old Tricks, New Opportunities: How Companies Violate the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes and Undermine Maternal and Child Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Outcomes of implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes as national laws: a systematic review.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Pooled it
- Mother-to-child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- The Corporate Political Activity of the infant commercial milk formula industry in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Profits Before Health? New Zealand Government Rejection of Stricter Infant Formula Marketing Standards and the Lobbying Behind It.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Digital Marketing Claims and Their Association With the Perceptions of Parents of Children Under 2 Years Old of Commercial Milk Formulas in Mexico.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- A Content Analysis of Digital Marketing Strategies of Formula Companies and Influencers to Promote Commercial Milk Formula in Hong Kong.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Generating political priority for breastfeeding and the adoption of Kenya's 2012 BMS act: the importance of women's leadership.Globalization and health · 2025Article
- Economic and environmental impacts of commercial milk formula in Indonesia: estimates and comparisons using the Cost of Not Breastfeeding, Green Feeding, and Mothers' Milk Tools.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- Assessing Compliance: Violations of WHO Code in Breast Milk Substitute Marketing, Ecuador.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- South African health professional associations urged to end commercial milk formula industry sponsorship.Journal of the colleges of medicine of South Africa · 2025Article
- Implementation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and maternity protection: correlations with commercial milk formula consumption in East Asia and the Pacific.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Monitoring and enforcement of Code-based legal measures to protect breastfeeding in South Asia: opportunities and bottlenecks.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Women's exposure to commercial milk formula marketing: a WHO multi-country market research study.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- Close Relations, Practitioners or Social Networks: What Affects the Selection of Infant Formula Products?Nutrients · 2024Article
- Infant formula donations and code violations during earthquake relief efforts in Türkiye in 2023: an observational study.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Observational
- A proposal to recognize investment in breastfeeding as a carbon offset.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2024Article
- High rates of International Code violations: a cross-sectional study in a region of Canada with low breastfeeding rates.BMC research notes · 2024Article
- Exclusive breastfeeding practice during COVID-19 pandemic in West Java Indonesia: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Commercial milk formula marketing following increased restrictions in Singapore: A qualitative study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- "Stronger with Breastmilk Only" Initiative in 5 African Countries: Case Study on the Implementation Process and Contribution to the Enabling Environment for Breastfeeding.Current developments in nutrition · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Breastfeeding is critical to maternal and child health and survival, and the benefits persist until later in life. Inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes (BMS), feeding bottles, and teats threatens the enabling environment of breastfeeding, and exacerbates child mortality, morbidity, and malnutrition, especially in the context of COVID-19. These tactics also violate the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. This study identified marketing tactics of BMS companies since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by reviewing promotional materials and activities from 9 companies in 14 countries, and the official Code reporting data from the Philippines. Eight qualitative themes emerged that indicate companies are capitalizing on fear related to COVID-19 by using health claims and misinformation about breastfeeding. Other promotional tactics such as donations and services were used to harness the public sentiment of hope and solidarity. Past studies show that these tactics are not new, but the pandemic has provided a new entry point, helped along by the unprecedented boom in digital marketing. There was a sharp increase of reported violations in the Philippines since the pandemic: 291 during the first months of the outbreak compared with 70 in all of 2019, corroborating the thematic findings. A lack of public awareness about the harm of donations and inadequate Code implementation and enforcement have exacerbated these problems. Proposed immediate action includes using monitoring findings to inform World Health Assembly (WHA) actions, targeted enforcement, and addressing misinformation about breastfeeding in the context of COVID-19. Longer-term action includes holding social media platforms accountable, raising public awareness on the Code, and mobilizing community monitoring.
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Registered trials
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