FDA Formula Probe Is Good News for Mothers, Babies

The FDA announced last week that it is planning to look into the health claims of infant formulas. I couldn't be happier. One of the biggest or should I latest of the formula industry's misleading claims is for omega-3 fatty acids--DHA, in particular, which misleads mothers into thinking formula is just as good as breast milk.

Specifically, the FDA says it wants to: "assess women's understanding of and response to various statements on infant formula labels. The study results will be used to help the agency to understand the role that certain types of statements on infant formula labels have in influencing formula choice…The study will focus on purchase choice, perceived similarity of the formula to breast milk and perceived likelihood that the formula has certain health benefits."

This is great news. For years, the infant formula companies have successfully marketed their formulas as just as good as breast milk without any such evidence. This marketing has been particularly aggressive in the black community. In a recent interview, a lactation consultant told me of a mom was asking for "the formula with breast milk in it." Wow!

No such thing actually exists, but it highlights the dangerously successful marketing by deep pocketed formula companies that leave moms confused and about what formula is and isn't.

Having been an intrepid business reporter for many years and a former senior writer at Fortune magazine, I can certainly understand the business dilemma of the formula makers: There is no money to be made from breastfeeding. Plain and simple.

When your number one competition is free, and you can't compete on price, you have to be creative. Really creative. And even misleading.

Meanwhile, market competition pushes formula companies to improve their product by adding so-called nutrients--especially the ones that can be considered "conditional" by the FDA. A conditional nutrient is one that might have some benefits under some circumstances. Even if the health benefits are minimal or questionable, they can still be used in advertising.

As a result many formulas have added fatty acids such as omega 6 arachidonic acid (ARA) and omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid--the same ones that are in fish oil. These two fatty acids are naturally present in breast milk and are reported to help infant brain development and vision.

But here's what happened behind the scenes: Formula makers were able to get the FDA to agree that ARA and DHA are normal components of food (which is true) and, therefore, are Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS). They were then free to add ARA and DHA to infant formulas without having to prove that either of them really did anything useful or beneficial. But the mere mention of such additives, gave them breast milk cred. Even worse, instead of marketing formula as a safe alternative if you can't breastfeed, they tried to make it appear just as good as breastfeeding for all mothers.

I mean, why bother to breastfeed if I can give them the same nutrients from formula, a mother could reason. The problem is, you can't.

And it's high time the government stopped allowed deceptive marketing of formula at the cost of infant and maternal health.

If you agree, please join me in letting the FDA know that this study is welcome and long overdue.

You can also file comments at http://www.regulations.gov. Refer to Docket No. FDA–2011–N–0098

Battling the Bulge from Birth

This is the time of year when everyone is thinking about eating lots of good food with family. Then in a few weeks, we will all make new and not-to-be kept resolutions about losing the weight gained by eating those same meals and many others throughout the past year.

But to really battle the bulge, not just for ourselves but for our children, we have to start early, avoid empty promises and face the facts.

Now, for the most part we black women love our curves and really have no use for the latest crash diets. The way we walk, talk, and dress says "I am bold and beautiful, love it or leave it!" But at as fabulous as we think we are, obesity is still a prominent issue in the black community.

I have heard every excuse from "My family is big- boned" to "queen- sized" and my favorite "That just means there's more of me to love!" And, while these statements and mantras seem to scream I am confident and love my body, we need to address why statistics show that six out of every ten African American women are overweight and four out of every ten is morbidly obese. There is a huge difference between having a little belly or being a little hippy and packing on 30 to 100 extra pounds or more. 50 percent of African-American women are obese compared to only 40 percent of Mexican-American women and only 30 percent of White women.

While we already know that the high rates of obesity in our community is linked to the prevalence of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, arthritis and cancer. We don't see too many people addressing prevention strategies for all of these diseases that start at birth. If we really want to curb the obesity epidemic in our community we have to start well before childhood. We can start as soon as the baby is born.

Breast-feeding helps us lose the weight we gained during pregnancy and has many other health benefits for us too.

Breastfeeding is proven to reduce your baby's chance of being obese. The breastfeeding-obesity link is now recognized by key government agencies and professional groups, Including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Experts at the CDC in Atlanta estimate that 15 percent to 20 percent of obesity could be prevented through breastfeeding. Here are some of the reasons why:

• Breastfed infants may be better at self-regulating their intake. Mothers cannot see how much milk their child is drinking, so they must rely on their infant's behavior, not an empty bottle, to signal when their infant is full. Thus, breastfed babies might be better able to eat only as much as they need.
  
  
• Breastfed infants are more likely than formula-fed infants to try and accept new foods. Acceptance of new foods is important because a healthy diet should include a wide variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Because breast milk contains flavors from foods eaten by mothers, breastfed infants are exposed to a variety of tastes early in life. In contrast, artificial baby milk (formula) always tastes the same.
  
  
• Breastfeeding has different effects than formula feeding on infant's metabolism and hormones such as insulin, which tells the body to store fat. Formula-fed infants tend to be fatter than breastfed infants at 12 months of age.
  
  
• For us to make a real impact on obesity in our community, we have to start at birth. It's really that simple. Resolving to breastfeed more and support any breastfeeding mother you know, is a real resolution for change.

Memo to Michelle Obama: Big Food Makers Don't Give a Fructose About Our Kids

I love Michelle Obama. Her strength, professionalism, sass and savvy are enviable. And as a mom, I can only applaud her efforts to reduce the embarrassingly high obesity rates in this country. Earlier this month she spoke at the Grocery Manufacturers Association meeting and asked big food companies like General Mills, Kraft Foods and Coca-Cola to produce more healthful food. What chutzpah! Then she went one step further by asking the food companies to then market the healthy food to children, instead of the red-dye, high sodium, high calories crap they usually market to our children.

Now I can certainly understand that the First Lady has to ask everybody to join in the fight against obesity. It is certainly an all-hands-on-deck type of goal. But if she really thinks big food companies will actually do something , then I'm a little concerned. I'm hoping she figured, "well, the event is in D.C. and I won't have to miss school pick up so what the heck."

The truth is, big food makers are not going to kill their cash cow by actually making healthier food, especially when making the unhealthy stuff is so cheap and rakes in serious money. I mean, hey, if it ain't broke, why fix it? That was like asking the healthcare companies to support health care reform with a public option. It was never going to happen. These corporations are big businesses looking for a profitable business model that works. Remember the multi-billion dollar kick in the bottom line it took for the tobacco industry to actually clean up their act? Big business, no matter what public relations spin they try to put on it, only acts in their own self interest. That interest is to keep shareholders happy and CEOs happier with fat paychecks and even fatter bonuses. My child's health is the last thing on the mind.

Thankfully it is the first thing on my mind. That's why it is really my responsibility and that of every other parent to make sure their child has a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. This is particularly true in our community where studies show that almost 36 percent of black children between the ages of six and eleven are overweight, and more than 19 percent are considered obese. Among twelve- to nineteen-year-olds, 40 percent are overweight and nearly 24 percent are obese.

More importantly, we as black mothers have to set a good example by modeling healthy living and healthy eating ourselves. Our own health impacts our children from pregnancy through adulthood.

I appreciate that the First Lady has to make all the appropriate rounds (and like I said, no out of town trip required) but no parent or reasonable adult should ever expect big business (or government, for that matter) to do what we need to do for ourselves and our children. That is, take back our power as parents and as the CNO (chief nutrition officer) in our homes. When your child begs for unhealthy crap, try this novel approach and simply utter, "No!" and actually mean it. Or better say, yes, but only once in a while.

Attention world, here's how to get the food makers on board: Stop buying the unhealthy stuff. When they lose the financial incentive for making unhealthy food options then they will stop. Period. When we educate ourselves as parents so that, as Mrs. Obama noted, we don't fall for gimmicks such as a food maker marketing one healthy aspect (such as adding one gram of fiber) while doubling the calories, then they will be forced to clean up their act. Until then it's just photo opps, PR spin and back to the sodium-laden processed foods with ingredients you can't even pronounce (Someone please ask the good folks at Hooked on Phonics to produce a special edition to help us get through our food labels).

That's fine for them. But we, as moms, have plenty of work to do. Let's get down to our big business.

A Plus-Sized Problem: Black Women and Obesity

She enters the stage in a revolving pyramid and haze of smoke. Dressed in shiny gold wide-legged pants and a matching gold jacket, she confidently walks to center stage.

In a boisterous voice she calls for all the "fat girls" to stand up and take a bow. It's the beginning of a popular and very funny stand-up routine of Mo'Nique, Golden Globe winner and comedy star, a routine where she spends a lot of time making fun of skinny girls--I won't use her exact words in this family friendly blog.

Suffice to say, Mo'Nique made a name for herself in the stand up circles as the poster child of "big girls" and quickly became one of America's best-loved plus sized personalities. She even penned the New York Times bestselling book, "Skinny Women Are Evil: Notes of a Big Girl in a Small-Minded World," published by Simon and Schuster.

I gotta admit, watching her comedy clips on YouTube--the act is very funny. But really obesity is no laughing matter.

Now I know we've never entertained the same body image perspectives as white women. Our families are full of Big Mamas, robust Aunties and other big women who doled out good food and good love, both in earnest portions. And let's face it: Black men tend to like us with ample thighs and a little "junk in the trunk," as they say. Or as my Granny would say, "Don't nobody want a bone, but a dog."

But things are getting beyond a little healthy meat on the bones. Overweight and obesity has increased for all Americans across the board. It's no wonder, President Obama recently announced a new obesity reduction initiative to be spearheaded by First Lady Michelle Obama.

The problem is particularly pronounced in our community. Nearly 70 percent of African Americans are overweight compared to 62 percent of white Americans. Among black women the statistics are reveal a greater difference. About 78 percent of black women age 20-74 are overweight, compared to 57 percent of white women in that same age group. Fifteen percent of black women are classified as severely obese, compared to 5 percent of white women.

The culprits in our community are typical: poor dietary choices, lack of healthy or organic food options in many urban areas, lack of physical activity or exercise and our greater acceptance of larger body types.

The ramifications can't be ignored. In pregnancy, being overweight or obese can lead to pregnancy complications and a difficult labor and delivery. The risk of a pregnant woman of being hospitalized goes up four times if she's overweight.

The March of Dimes Task Force on Nutrition and Optimal Human Development presented a report indicating that women who are overweight or obese are 30 to 40 percent more likely to have a baby who has major birth defects such as those that affect the brain, heart, and digestive system. Among the most common obesity-related birth defects are neural tube defects, heart defects, and abdominal wall defects. Folic acid supplements, usually effective in preventing these conditions, may not be as protective in overweight women, according to some studies.

Beyond our babies, obesity often leads to heart disease and many other problems in black women. This is not about a number on the scale; it's about being healthy. It's time for big girls and skinny girls and everyone in between to come together for all girls.

Michelle Obama's Plan: Mothers Need Apply

Soy milk invaded my childhood at age 6 and not because I particularly preferred it. Rather my mom bought it, packed it in the fridge, and drank it. And because I adored and mimicked my mom, I drank soy milk with enthusiasm.

This past Tuesday, thoughts of soy milk and my mother came to mind as I attended Michelle Obama's White House kick-off of "Let's Move," her multi-year, multi-agency, and era-changing plan to fight childhood obesity in America.

It was my first time inside the White House and as soon as Michelle Obama walked out confident and beautiful, I realized that she could tell America to eat turnips and flax seed every morning and night and a good portion of people would follow suit.

Michelle Obama has that stunning package of qualities that my mother has. Fearless, authoritative, and caring, the mother-of-two and Harvard-trained lawyer can command many children and adults to follow her quest just by suggesting them. And like my mother, Michelle appears to walk on water.

Now, I believe it is that power for women and mothers to be role models that I think will amplify the goals of Obama's movement aimed to reverse the fact that young people, due to obesity-related disorders, might have a shorter life-span than their parents. A focus on women and mothers could turn Obama's national fitness movement into a penetrating cultural, psychological mandate.

Right now, Michelle Obama's plan combines major thrusts: moves to provide front-of-package nutrition labeling on food products and the elimination of food deserts in neighborhoods with no grocery stories; a policy to increase healthy meals in public schools; marketing and tools to spur athleticism in children and wellness decisions in families; and billions towards these goals over the next 10 years. Her vision, fortified by private and public support, is both necessary and impressive.

In addition, child's health foundations will come together to fund the Partnership for a Healthier America, which is a non-partisan convener of sectors and agencies supporting solving childhood obesity in 30 years. And President Barack Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum to launch the first Task Force for Childhood Obesity to review and create countrywide plans to employ federal resources to improve child nutrition and exercise.

Imploring Americans to read about what they eat, talk health with their circles, and see health as a self-esteem issue, Michelle Obama's plan is simply epic, a practical movement that could change everything.

Yet one thing I noticed about Michelle Obama's informative and passionate literature about the plan is that the words families and parents are preferred over women and mothers. It appears state and social forces will usher in this very crucial movement, when in fact, women and children are the exact linchpin. Many people like me, even with two active parents, draw a direct line of my eating and lifestyle experiences to my mother. While my father influenced my eating habits, healthy food practices were often implemented by my mother. Fathers can regulate the diet of children, but can they manage the lifestyle of mothers?

Still now, I don't understand the mechanism of vegetables and I can't explain the chemistry of pure hair oils. But I know that when I cook greens in too much oil, they don't taste as good as my mother's, and when I use olive oil on my hair instead of synthetic creams, my hair becomes shiny, beautiful, and strong as my mother's.

This relationship works in reverse. Four out of five African American women are obese, making us the most obese group of Americans. And the CDC finds that maternal pre-pregnancy obesity is associated with childhood obesity. Some of this explains why African American children between ages 6 and 17 are 1.3 times as likely to be overweight as their white peers and are at greater risk of diabetes, asthma and heart disease. A lot of the problem is, mother see, child do. Michelle Obama's campaign has the chance to embrace and nurture mothers in a huge, phenomenal way.

For years my mom was soy-minded, making as many trips to mainstream grocery stores as small health food shops. Her bookshelves were lined with alternative healthy living literature. When she was going to make a big change in her life, she meditated on it. And when she went vegetarian, she invited her children to join along.

Throughout the years, I adopted these habits, and not because I was a health guru like my mother, but because I absorbed them as a result of admiring my mother, my role model since the womb. Now I have a health propensity without thinking about it. And, some things are just wired. No matter where I am in the world, if I have even a cold, I call my mom first. How maternal health emerges in this vast obesity fight will be amazing to watch, and necessary to see.