Bringing Together Stakeholders to Explore How Industry Marketing Undermines the Health of Feeding Infants and Toddlers

Policies that increase breastfeeding rates and reduce the frequency of formula feeding can significantly impact maternal and child health outcomes. Through research and stakeholder coordination, PHI's Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) worked to clarify and elevate research and action steps that would increase rates of sustained, exclusive breastfeeding and healthy toddler feeding.

BMSG, with support from other project partners, planned and facilitated a convening to engage stakeholders from across the country in identifying research questions and exploring opportunities for action around infant formula marketing. To support the group, BMSG also created an analysis of social media marketing that promotes infant and toddler formulas to parents, as well as a summary of legal and regulatory mechanisms at both the state and federal level that could protect mothers and children from the infant formula industry’s aggressive marketing.