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Formula companies are paying social media platforms and influencers to reach pregnant women and mothers directly at some of the most vulnerable times in their lives
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The global formula industry, valued at about $55 billion, is targeting new mothers with personalized social media content that is often not considered advertising
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The global formula industry, valued at about $55 billion, is targeting new mothers with personalized social media content that is often not considered advertising
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A new World Health Organization (WHO) report, Scope and impact of digital marketing strategies to promote breast-milk substitutes, outlines digital marketing techniques designed to influence new families' decisions about how to feed their babies
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Through tools such as apps, virtual support groups or "baby clubs," paid advocates on social media, promotions and contests, and advice forums or services, formula companies can bribe or collect personal information and send personalized messages to new pregnant women and mothers promotional information
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The report summarizes the results of new research that used commercial social listening platforms to sample and analyze 4 million social media posts about infant feeding published between January and June 2021
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The posts reached an audience of 2.
47 billion people and received more than 12 million likes, shares or comments
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The posts reached an audience of 2.
47 billion people and received more than 12 million likes, shares or comments
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The formula company posts about 90 times a day on its social media accounts, reaching an audience of 229 million users; it has twice the audience for informational posts about breastfeeding from non-commercial accounts
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This pervasive marketing is driving the purchase of breast-milk substitutes, thereby discouraging mothers from exclusively breastfeeding as recommended by WHO
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"The promotion of commercial formula should have ended decades ago," said Dr Francesco Branca, Director of WHO's Department of Nutrition and Food Safety
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"Formula companies are now employing more powerful and insidious marketing techniques to drive sales, which is inexcusable and must be stopped
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"Formula companies are now employing more powerful and insidious marketing techniques to drive sales, which is inexcusable and must be stopped
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The report compiles evidence from social listening studies on public online communication and individual country studies monitoring the promotion of breast-milk substitutes, drawing on recent multi-country research on the experiences of mothers and health professionals in formula marketing
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These studies show how misleading marketing reinforces myths about breastfeeding and breastfeeding, and undermines women's confidence in their ability to breastfeed successfully
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These studies show how misleading marketing reinforces myths about breastfeeding and breastfeeding, and undermines women's confidence in their ability to breastfeed successfully
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The surge in the global digital marketing of formula is a blatant violation of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (the Code), adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981
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The code is a landmark public health protocol designed to protect the public and mothers from aggressive marketing practices by the baby food industry that negatively impact breastfeeding practices
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The code is a landmark public health protocol designed to protect the public and mothers from aggressive marketing practices by the baby food industry that negatively impact breastfeeding practices
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Despite clear evidence that continued exclusive breastfeeding is a key determinant of improved lifelong health for children, women and communities, too few children are breastfed as recommended
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If the current formula marketing strategy continues, the proportion of breastfeeding may fall further, boosting the company's bottom line
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If the current formula marketing strategy continues, the proportion of breastfeeding may fall further, boosting the company's bottom line
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The fact that these forms of digital marketing can evade scrutiny by national surveillance and health authorities means that new approaches to regulating and enforcing the Code are needed
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Currently, marketing originating abroad may circumvent national legislation
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Currently, marketing originating abroad may circumvent national legislation
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WHO is calling on the baby food industry to stop the exploitative marketing of formula, and calls on governments to enact, monitor and enforce laws to end all advertising or other promotions of formula products, thereby protecting new children and families
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Notes to Editing
About this study
This report gathers evidence from multiple sources on exposure to digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes and its impact
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These include a systematic review of the literature, social listening studies, a multi-country study of mothers' and health professionals' experiences with the marketing of breast-milk substitutes, individual country reports on the promotion of breast-milk substitutes, and a review of existing laws implementing the Code analysis of measures
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These include a systematic review of the literature, social listening studies, a multi-country study of mothers' and health professionals' experiences with the marketing of breast-milk substitutes, individual country reports on the promotion of breast-milk substitutes, and a review of existing laws implementing the Code analysis of measures
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WHO established an external steering committee composed of experts from all WHO regions to advise on the design and methodology of the review and reporting
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Experts are selected based on their expertise in social sciences, epidemiology, marketing, global health, nutrition, psychology and consumer behaviour, human rights law, and policies to monitor and enforce the Code
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The experts are from all WHO regions (except the Eastern Mediterranean Region)
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Experts are selected based on their expertise in social sciences, epidemiology, marketing, global health, nutrition, psychology and consumer behaviour, human rights law, and policies to monitor and enforce the Code
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The experts are from all WHO regions (except the Eastern Mediterranean Region)
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This is the first time WHO has used a social media intelligence platform to gain insight into the marketing practices of multinational formula producers and distributors
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Social media intelligence platforms monitor social media by finding mentions of specific keywords or phrases and collecting, organizing and analyzing them
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This industry-standard approach "listens" to the billions of exchanges and conversations that take place every day among social media users around the world and on other digital platforms such as websites and forums
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Social media intelligence platforms monitor social media by finding mentions of specific keywords or phrases and collecting, organizing and analyzing them
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This industry-standard approach "listens" to the billions of exchanges and conversations that take place every day among social media users around the world and on other digital platforms such as websites and forums
.
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