Abstract
On a global scale, the world faces impending food scarcity due to rapid population growth and the deleterious impact of climate breakdown on food production. In the absence of radical change, the most vulnerable and detrimentally affected could be the 2 billion additional inhabitants expected in the developing nations between now and 2050. A root cause of this future scenario is decreasing breastfeeding rates. As the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Poverty brings the poor in these regions into the middle-classes, there will be an assimilation of Western dietary patterns such as formula feeding and increased intake of livestock and their by-products. Infant formula, the most common alternative to breastmilk, consequently emerges as a formidable driver in the compromise of global food, energy, and water systems. The enormous, intensive water consumption, extensive use of materials for packaging, high-demand use of energy resources in manufacturing, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from food miles transportation, and widespread generation of household waste make infant formula production a major environmental concern and a leading contributor to global heating. Exacerbated by population growth, using infant formula to replace breastfeeding irreparably harms societies, economies, and the environment around the world. There is an urgency in addressing the global sustainability impact of using infant formula to replace breastfeeding. It is the purpose of this commentary to demonstrate the social, economic, and environmental costs of using infant formula to replace breastfeeding and provide sufficient evidence to promote breastfeeding as the universal foundation of healthy sustainable diets.
Highlights
On a global scale, the world faces impending food scarcity due to rapid population growth with predictions exceeding 9 billion inhabitants by the mid-21st century
In the absence of radical change, the most vulnerable and detrimentally affected could be the 2 billion additional inhabitants expected in the developing nations between and 2050 [3]
As the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Poverty brings the poor in these regions into the middle-classes, there will be an assimilation of Western dietary patterns such as formula feeding and increased intake of livestock and their by-products
Summary
The world faces impending food scarcity due to rapid population growth with predictions exceeding 9 billion inhabitants by the mid-21st century. Failing to improve breastfeeding rates and an unchecked formula industry will divert food production, energy, and freshwater to livestock for infant formula production, making it impossible to mitigate the impending food gap, population growth, and climate change. There appear to be breastfeeding goals embedded or implied in the seventeen SDGs. there appear to be breastfeeding goals embedded or implied in the seventeen SDGs It is the vision of this author to propose a separate Sustainable Development Goal on breastfeeding providing a necessary framework on corrective action, within the decade. It is the purpose of this commentary to provide sufficient evidence to promote this behavior as a universal element of healthy sustainable diets. After a brief history of infant feeding practices, the social, economic, and environmental costs of using infant formula to replace breastfeeding will be described from a global perspective first and an American perspective second
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
