Is formula just as good as breastfeeding?

We will let the research speak

**Infants in developed first-world industrialized countries who are fed formula instead of breastmilk are:**

6 - 20 times	more likely to get	necrotizing enterocolitis	Lucas & Cole, 1990
6.5 times	more likely to get	severe rotavirus	Duffy, Byers, Riepenhoff-Talty, La Scolea, Zielezny & Ogra, 1986
4 times	more likely to get	lymphoma	Bener, Denic & Galadari, 2001
4 times	more likely to get	pneumonia	Levine, Farley, Harrison, Lefkowitz, McGeer & Schwartz, 1999
2-5 times	more likely to get	ear infections	Duncan, Holberg, Wright, Martinez & Taussig, 1993 and Scariati, Grummer-Strawn & Fein, 1997, and Dewey, Heinig & Nommsen-Rivers 1995
2-4 times	more likely to get	asthma	Wright, Holberg, Taussig & Martinez, 2001 and Ratageri, Kabra, Dwivedi, & Seth, 2000
2-4 times	more likely to get	diarrhea	Howie, Forsyth, Ogston, Clark & Florey, 1990 and Scariati, et al., 1997 and Dewey et al., 1995
2.5 times	more likely to get	leukemia	Bener et al., 2001
2 times	more likely to die from	SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)	McVea, Turner & Peppler, 2000
2 times	more likely to get	Haemophilus influenzae type B	Takala et al., 1989
2 times	more likely to get	upper respiratory infections	Forman et al., 1984
1.5 - 3 times	more likely to get	Insulin dependent diabetes	Gerstein, 1994 Virtanen, Rasanen, Aro, Lindstrom et al., 1991; Virtanen, Rasanen, Aro, Ylonen, et al. 1992; Verge et al. 1994
2-8 points		lower on their IQ tests	Drane & Logemann, 2000

Mothers who use formula instead of breastfeeding are:

3 times	more likely to develop	breast cancer before age 40	Tryggvadottir, et al. 2001
2 times	more likely to develop	osteoporosis	Cumming & Klineberg, 1993
20%	more likely to get	hormone-receptor–negative (HRN) breast cancer	http://bit.ly/1PGiaAX Annals of Oncology (2015; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdv379

Also see: Managing breastfeeding latch, nipple pain, redness, yeast infections and baby's jaundice

Sources

Bauer, G., Ewald, L. S., Hoffman, J. & Dubanoski, R. (1991). Breastfeeding and cognitive development of three-year-old children. Psychological Reports, 68 (3 Pt 2), 1218.

Bener, A., Denic, S. & Galadari, S. (2001). Longer breast-feeding and protection against childhood leukaemia and lymphomas. European Journal of Cancer, 37 (2), 234-238.

Cumming, R. G. & Klineberg, R. J. (1993). Breastfeeding and other reproductive factors and the risk of hip fractures in elderly women. International Journal of Epidemiology, 22 (4), 684-691.

Dewey, K. G., Heinig, M. J., Nommsen-Rivers, L. A. (1995). Differences in morbidity between breast-fed and formula-fed infants. The Journal of Pediatrics, 126 (5 Pt 1), 696-702.

Drane D. L. & Logemann J. A. (2000). A critical evaluation of the evidence on the association between type of infant feeding and cognitive development. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, 14 (4), 349-356.

Duffy, L. C., Byers, T. E., Riepenhoff-Talty, M., La Scolea, L. J., Zielezny, M. & Ogra, P. L. (1986). The effects of infant feeding on rotavirus-induced gastroenteritis: a prospective study [abstract]. American Journal of Public Health, 76, 259-263.

Duncan, B., Ey, J., Holberg, C. J., Wright, A. L., Martinez F. D. & Taussig, L. M. (1993). Exclusive breast-feeding for at least 4 months protects against otitis media. Pediatrics, 91 (5), 867-872.

Forman, M. R., Graubard, B. I., Hoffman, H. J., Beren, R., Harley, E. E. & Bennett, P. (1984). The Pima infant feeding study: breastfeeding and respiratory infections during the first year of life. International Journal of Epidemiology, 13 (4), 447-453.

Gerstein, H. C. (1994). Cow's milk exposure and type I diabetes mellitus. A critical overview of the clinical literature. Diabetes care, 17 (1), 13-19.

Howie, P. W., Forsyth, J. S., Ogston, S. A., Clark, A. & Florey, C. D. (1990). Protective effect of breast feeding against infection. British Medical Journal, 300 (6716), 11-16.

Levine O. S., Farley, M., Harrison, L. H., Lefkowitz, L., McGeer, A., Schwartz, B. (1999). Risk factors for invasive pneumococcal disease in children: a population-based case-control study in North America [abstract]. Pediatrics, 103 (3), E28.

Lucas A., & Cole T. J. (1990). Breast milk and neonatal necrotising enterocolitis. Lancet, 336 (8730): 1519-1523. McVea, K. L., Turner, P.D., Peppler, D. K. (2000) The role of breastfeeding in sudden infant death syndrome. Journal of Human Lactation, 16 (1), 13-20.

Ratageri, V. H., Kabra, S. K., Dwivedi, S. N., & Seth, V. (2000). Factors associated with severe asthma. Indian Pediatrics, 37 (10), 1072-1082.

Scariati, P. D., Grummer-Strawn, L. M. & Fein, S. B. (1997). A longitudinal analysis of infant morbidity and the extent of breastfeeding in the United States. Pediatrics, 99 (6), E5.

Sciacca, J. P., Phipps, B. L., Dube, D. A. & Ratliff, M. I. (1995) Influences on breast-feeding by lower-income women: an incentive-based, partner-supported educational program. Journal of the American Dietetic Association [abstract], 95 (3), 323-328.

Takala, A. K., Eskola J., Palmgren J., Ronnberg P. R., Kela E., Rekola P. & Makela P. H. (1989). Risk factors of invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b disease among children in Finland. Journal of Pediatrics, 115 (5 Pt 1), 694-701.

Tryggvadottir L, Tulinius H, Eyfjord JE, Sigurvinsson T. (2001) Breastfeeding and reduced risk of breast cancer in an Icelandic cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 154 (1), 37-42.

Verge, C. F., Howard, N. J., Irwig, L., Simpson, J. M., Mackerras, D. & Silink, M. (1994). Environmental factors in childhood IDDM. A population-based, case-control study. Diabetes Care, 17 (12), 1381-1389.

Virtanen, S. M., Rasanen, L., Aro, A., Lindstrom, J., Sippola, H., Lounamaa, R., Toivanen, L., Tuomilehto, J. & Akerblom, H. K. (1991). Infant feeding in Finnish children less than 7 yr of age with newly diagnosed IDDM. Diabetes Care, 14 (5), 415-417.

Virtanen, S. M., Rasanen, L., Aro, A., Ylonen, K., Lounamaa, R., Tuomilehto, J. & Akerblom, H. K. (1992). Feeding in infancy and the risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus in Finnish children. Diabetic Medicine, 9 (9), 815-819.

Wright, A. L., Holberg, C. J., Taussig L. M., Martinez, F. D. (2001). Factors influencing the relation of infant feeding to asthma and recurrent wheeze in childhood. Thorax, 56 (3), 192-197.