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Subscribe to RSSMany low-income parents feel they must resort to “formula stretching,” to keep their infants fed, even with government food assistance programs, a new study shows.
The study found that 30 percent of parents who brought their infants to an inner city children’s clinic didn’t have enough food to make it through each month. And a full 15 percent, or about 1 in 8, made ends meet by watering down their babies’ formula or by feeding less frequently, according to the study which was published in Clinical Pediatrics.
“We knew this was a high-risk population,” said study co-author Andrew Beck, a fellow in general academic pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “But these numbers are still staggering.”
Up till now there has been little research on infants in families that don’t have enough food, Beck said. Studies of hunger and food shortages across the nation have found that 16 to 22 percent of American families come up short some months.
Beck and his colleagues surveyed 144 parents of infants who attended the hospital’s Pediatric Primary Care Center. The vast majority of families who come to the clinic are covered by Medicaid and receive food stamps as well as assistance getting infant formula through a program called WIC.
The researchers asked about food availability and feeding behavior in a 37-question survey that also looked at sociodemographic characteristics such as patient age, race, parental age, education, ethnicity and source of insurance.
Even though the majority of parents were receiving help through foods stamps and WIC, many did not have enough food to feed their families. In fact, some 65 percent of families ran out of WIC-supplied infant formula most months. And the result, in many cases, was that parents diluted or cut back on formula for their infants.
This kind of formula stretching may have consequences for the infants, Beck said.
“There will be a subset of children who will have what is called ‘failure to thrive,’” Beck explained. “More often, though, the ramifications of this tend to be less visible -- problems with cognition and behavior. In some it may lead to obesity later in life.”
While some might point to breast feeding as a solution, not every mom is in the position to do this for her child. In some jobs it’s virtually impossible to express milk during the day when a mom is away from her baby.
“Clearly, we encourage and actively support breastfeeding,” Beck said. “The reality is that a relatively low percentage of our patients breastfeed by the time they reach us. If they do, we continue to encourage it and have a breastfeeding clinic if they need it. Although they likely wouldn't require formula, we need to do education and a nutritional assessment for mom. Also, as the first year progresses, even fewer families continue to nurse.”
Many of these patients may be slipping through the cracks, Beck said. At his hospital, residents reported problems with food availability in only 2 percent of parents attending the clinic.
It was clear, Beck said, that residents didn’t know how to ferret out these kinds of issues. In a second study, published in Pediatrics, the researchers showed that the numbers shot up when doctors were given the right questions to ask of their patients.
Right now Beck and his colleagues are working on finding solutions for parents who don’t have enough to feed their kids. But those solutions will only work if doctors can figure out who needs help, Beck said.
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I know of a teen mom on food stamps, she can't feed her baby, but has plenty of money to buy cigarettes and smoke a pack a day. She would get free daycare, too, if she wasn't so lazy to get a job!
I grew up just above the food stamp income requirements. All the kids on welfare had nice clothes and a hot lunch. I had crappy, used clothes and cold lunch with generic bread.
We live in such an entitlement society. It is disgusting to see people who are not willing to work, demanding to be supported.
It used to be demeaning to accept charity, now it is totally accepted.
The problem is that our socialist masters have determined it isn't charity. They steal our money (literally at the point of an IRS agent's gun) to give to these worthless freeloading breeders who can't keep their legs closed.
john carter- You'd be better off living on an island then.
I've lived on an island. The problem with living on an island is that you pretty much have to have a boat. Boats are holes in the water in which you pour money. Now I live on a mountain. No boats.
The problem with giving parents a certain amount of formula is they start to think this is the amount for the month and they shouldn't have to buy any. So, they stretch it instead of buying more. I'm sorry, but how someone can buy cigarettes or sodas or a cool phone and stretch their baby's formula is beyond me. I am sure 99% of the formula stretchers haven't cut every unnecessary expense out of their lives. It's bad parenting, plain and simple!
If you are that poor and especially if you aren't working, you need to breastfeed your babies.
I agree, but since people are actually that pathetic, they need to be put on non-removable birth control (like an IUD or Norplant) if they want to receive any benefits, and they should be given a full month's supply of formula, because their children shouldn't have to suffer for their stupidity.
No Jen!
If you're that poor and especially if you're not working, you need to not have ANY kids. EVER. PERIOD.
Here is an idea. Quit having kids that you cannot take care of. Just a thought.
Here is an idea- walk a mile in someone elses shoes!...get back to me.
Great idea, Null, but look at how your plan is working out in the real world! Not realistic at all, so now what do we do? I vote for birth control (IUD, Norplant, etc.) as a requirement to receive benefits.
Point one: US and world are over populated.
Point two: New US Free Market Economy has neither the time, the inclination, or the forbearance, to assume any responsibilty for anything, or anybody, that a profit can not be extracted.
Forget the teachings of Jesus, unless your campaigning for votes. Its the wealth. Its nothing but the wealth.
SSE Now. SSE Tomorrow. SSE Forever. Read em' and weep.
Greedy wasteful, junk food buyers........................>I have watched them in the markets with their handouts.
He who live in glass house shouldn't cast stone.
My house is only partly glass. The rest is solid stone.
I realize there truly are some women who cannot breastfeed. But, before we had formulas, it was very rare for a mother to not breastfeed except for a few wealthy women who hired wet-nurses. My mother told me that in the 1950s, they were discouraging breastfeeding, and they made formulas out of canned milk, boiled water, and corn sweetener and most of us did quite well on it. When my oldest was born, in the 70s, they were giving babies "a little formula" in the nursery before bringing them to the mothers to nurse. The idea was to supplement until the milk came in, but of course then the baby often never sucked long and often enough to stimulate the milk production. (My first threw up the formula so there was no choice but breast-milk.)
It is time we realize that most mothers can breastfeed if they approach it with patience and are not too quick to give up or use the formula. I've had coworkers who came up with a good compromise. They used their maternity leave to get their milk established by nursing exclusively, then continued nursing before and after work, while the babysitter used formula.
Some people mentioned about the homemade canned milk formulas. Certainly, supplementing either breast milk or commercial formula with that would be better than diluting formula with water.
After 4 years running Congress and the President, Democrats are fully to blame as they have done NOTHING
But Democrats have not run Congress for the past two years.
Nor are they breastfeeding.
Why not, I water down my dad's booze when I'm thirsty for a sneaky drink!
The comments saying people shouldn't have children they can't afford are true but unrealistic. What they need to do is require the moms to either receive an I.U.D., Norplant, or Depo Provera shot every three months and THEN they qualify for any benefits at all. They should increase the amount of formula on WIC to the amount needed for the baby's age. At least then we will be preventing them from having more babies, and the babies can be properly fed. Also, drug test the moms at random. Why is our society afraid to do these things?
That is not reasonable. Who will pay for the birth control and what do we do with women that cannot use birth control due to medical conditions (such as me although I do not need birth control since my reproductive parts are broken)? What about people who have a religious reason (and right) not to use contraceptives (Catholics for one). If we refuse to give those people benefits we are hurting innocent children, not solving any problems. Absolutely formula should be increased on WIC. Drug testing should be on a case by case basis. Everyone is assuming these are bad parents, no one has taken into consideration that these could be or at least include good people who have had a misfortune (husband died, lost a job, ongoing medical condition, lost everything to a fire, etc.). Also poor people are not always bad people or drug addicts, some are just poor.
Is it the working mothers who are not breastfeeding or also the nonworking mothers? No mention in the article. WIC provides nourishing food (allowable categories are strict) for breastfeeding mothers. The article also does not say whether parents could feed their kids better if they chose how to spend their foodstamps and money differently. There have been a few programs that try to teach parents how to buy cheaper, more nutritious food, but success requires people to change their tastes and this is difficult.
Its easy to say don't have children if you can't afford them.. Not all children are planned. There are exceptions to every rule. Failed birth control, be it a pill or a condom. Even if you do it right they are not 100% effective. Then there are people like me. Doctors said I wouldn't conceive naturally. A little over a year later I was pregnant. If it weren't for WIC I wouldn't have been able to afford formula plus all the other expenses of providing for myself and my baby. Not all bodies are created equally, some women are UNABLE to provide enough milk or provide it long enough. I am not on foodstamps or housing assistance. The ONLY assistance I get is WIC. My son's so called father refuses to help support him or see him. My son is now off of formula and eating most of the same foods that I eat. At the moment, financially, I'm doing fine. I wouldn't give my son up for anything in the world and I'm glad I had him even if I couldn't afford it on my own in the beginning. I work fulltime and pay my taxes, have since I was 16 years old. I'd rather my tax money go the unlazy who don't make enough than the lazy who won't do anything. But I also would not penalize innocent children for their parents' shorcomings.
Breastfeeding isn't encouraged nearly enough nor are its benefits. Children that are breastfed have been shown to have higher IQs, lower incidence of childhood diseases, lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and cancer as adults. They are also less likely to be obese. Don't take my word for it, look it up. This is the tip of the iceberg on the benefits of breastfeeding. My wife works fulltime and breastfed both of our children for 11 months. It was hard, but free. When she first started breastfeeding it was awkward and painful...for about 2 days and then nature kicked in. I'm not sure why we disavow our mammalian heritage but I have heard women espouse not breastfeeding for reasons of vanity as often as convenience. Given the benefits and low cost, the reasons not to breastfeed parallel the reasons not to give up cigarettes. Okay, you can yell at me now, but if our neolithic ancestors gave up on breastfeeding so easily, we would have gone extinct a long time ago.
I agree, breastfeeding is great, but what if a mother just can't? My mother could not because she never produced enough breast milk. My aunt could not because she was diagnosed with cancer during her pregnancy and had to have chemo after giving birth. I once had an employer that would not allow a mother back from maternity leave to take time away from her desk to pump, until she pumped at her desk one day, HR had a heck of time with that fight.
See my other post in which I state that it should be a legal mandate that all employers allow new mothers the time and privacy to pump no matter what. Even then, not everyone can breastfeed, but you are right, it should really be encouraged and pregnant women should really be educated on how to do it and what the benefits are. Also the black market for breast milk (yes, there really is one) should be brought into an actual FDA regulated program, mothers with excess breast milk, or those who have stillborn children but still have breastmilk should be able to donate to those that have need provided that the milk is healthy, but it should stay local because local illness and allergies are more likely to be prevented by consuming local goods.
*****shortcomings!!!!****
Here's a RADICAL idea. How about people just stop having kids? The dumbest decision anyone can make nowadays is having kids. Our planet is grossly overpopulated. Not enough of anything to go around for all of us. We should adopt the legislation that has worked splendidly for the Chinese. Implement forced abortions and sterilizations for anyone who violates a one-child policy. That way, you put an end to the abuse of the system by dirt poor welfare moms and control the surplus population all in one easy step. But that would be infringing on "freedoms" right? Like the freedom to have 19 kids like that fornicating freakshow family, the Duggars did. Our country is infested with pathetic, mindless breeders unable to see beyond the borders of their own backyard.
Holy cr@p! I can't believe you just said that!
Spend some time in China and see how well that's worked for them. My wife is Chinese, has one child, a son, who's 22 years old and has no expectation of ever being able to marry. There are currently 1.5 males in his generation to every female.
Even the Chinese government has realized that the one child/forced abortion policy has failed.
Of course, based on your post you'll never have children.
Well, Severed Head, these surplus guys will not get married and have kids....is that so bad for an overpopulated world?
China is responsible enough to see that they need to reduce their population. Look at the horror of living conditions for the poor in places like India. I would rather be poor in China than India.
144 people interviewed at an inner city (define this please) clinic that purports to take welfare families first...and they are surprised that there is "stretching" of formula going on? How does this translate to a national scale? Also if one is on welfare (cash assistance),. medicaid, WIC, and TANF (food stamps) and STILL can't afford to feed their baby then maybe it's time to have less kids. The world is quickly becoming (if not already) overpopulated. Do your part, don't make more kids, foster or adopt someone else's.
So what do they do with the children they already have; leave them in the drop box at Goodwill?
Maybe they SHOULD consider giving those kids up. We have so many people adopting from overseas because of a lack of adoptable children in this country. If a parent cannot take care of his/her child, what shows more love, keeping the kid with you ion deplorable circumstances or giving your child to a couple who will love him/her and provide a good life and opportunities to your child?
There is NO lack of adoptable kids in this country, believe me. Look at all those kids in foster care, they're adoptable. Of course, they're not cute little babies, so nobody wants them. So please, do some research before making statements like that.
Actually, not all kids in foster care are adoptable - some are the children of people whose parental rights have not yet been terminated. Some are returned to their biological families after their parents (hopefully) get their acts together. And frankly, many couples aren't ready to take on an older child whose parents have lost custody because of the emotional problems those children often have. It's easy to say "Give them a chance", but it's tougher to actually be a parent 24-7 to a child who has been abused/neglected/abandoned and has emotional or behavioral problems because of it.
Wanna bet that 95 percent of the moms watering down formula can still afford plenty of cigarettes and Night Train as an after-dinner aperitif for themselves?
No I don't wanna take that bet. While I don't condone perpetual use of government assistance I do condone being fiscally conservative. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS. If you get cash aid, TANF, WIC, cheap medical, reduced rent etc... This is your LEG UP to save money, goods etc and make a better life for yourself. Sure it is easy to just spend spend spend and know that next month that check is being electronically sent to your I Phone... and that's not just a problem for the welfare families out there...
I was reading the other day that many families can't afford a $500-1000 car repair bill or other unexpected problem. Really? Nobody ever taught you to save at least 2 months earnings? Where has personal responsibility gone? I know some of you will say that times are tough, costs are up, wages are down... So what? The most money I've ever earned in my life is 40k for one year, the rest of my life my income has been below 22k. I'm in my late 20's and live in my own home, on my own land, no trust fund, no government assistance, nothing. I saved. You can do it too.
Maybe they already used it for medical bills, rent, food? And I guess you're probably living somewhere in a small town or rural area. And aren't supporting a family.
Here is a crazy idea, why doesn't our government pass a law that requires all employers from small businesses to major corporations to provide a place for mothers to pump breast milk and to allow break times to do so. There is no way that any business is so busy all the time that they cannot afford to allow an employee to take the time to pump, particularly if it is for the health and wellbeing of an infant. As for the women who cannot provide breastmilk for whatever reason (I'm no medical expert, but I know there are legitimate reasons) perhaps there should be better programs.
I agree that people that cannot afford kids should wait, but sadly people that live in poverty sometimes do not have the education or financial ability to use contraceptives and if they are married abstinence might not make sense (sex is not all about reproduction, I'm infertile but my hubby and I still like intimacy). Further a lot of times under educated people do not equate sex with reproduction. Also there are victims of rape or sex abuse that might not understand the options available to them or who have religious beliefs that don't allow them to abort or give up the child. You do not know each persons situation so do not judge, and remember it is the child we need to be concerned about, not the mistakes or misfortunes of the parents.
For those complaining about food stamps, formula is covered by WIC, not food stamps, and WIC allows a certain number of items. The WIC check comes with a list attached and the cashier (I used to be one in my younger days which is how I know this) has to ring the items in the order they are listed on the check. All items must be purchased and only in the quantity allowed. If the amount of formula allowed is not enough for the month it is up to the parent to provide the rest.
Minimum wage is $290 per week before taxes if you work a 40 hour week. I challenge everyone here to survive on that for one month. Once you've walked a mile in a poor family's shoes come back and tell us how great you are and how horrible they are.
Thank you, finally someone who has sense!!!!!!!!!
Meanwhile, keep in mind my wife used to work at a daycare full time, probably 5 in 8 "low income" parents that receieve government food, money to pay for top notch daycare, food stamps, and other government assistance drive nicer cars than most of us hard-working Americans who get nothing handed to us.
It's a priorities issue with these people. They stretch their baby's food but they're in line to buy the latest COACH bags and trade in their 2 year old car that they're 5 grand upside down on because they want one that comes with sirius. Give me a break.
here is my gripe. I've been on both sides of the fence breastfeeding wise. with my first daughter I had more milk than I knew what to do with. I would have gladly donated it but there wasn't a milk bank in my area. (I did end up giving about a gallon a week to my SIL) with my second daughter I tried to breastfeed, but my milk didn't come in due to medical issues. She ended up being on a g-tube with a specialized formula and we were on WIC till she was 4. had there been a milk bank locally this would have been a wonderful option in both cases.
Now if I had to water down my baby's formula, I would definitely be doing anything that I could to boost my income. That is really sad. I did not breastfeed because I just did not produce enough milk and it was extremely painful because I have inverted nipples, so not everyone is capable. Now with the poor, we have to understand that some people are just uneducated and have not been out of their area or neighborhood and have had no guidance on how to handle their finances. It's really sad when I see documentaries and inner city kids act like there has to be a miracle, in order for them to make it out of the hood. It doesn't take that much to move, but you have to be willing and ready to do it.
Stories like this sweep through the mainstream news. While a
few of us have children that have an underlying medical condition that is
causing our child to “fail to thrive”. Some children even have an ungodly consumption
amount and still fail to gain weight.
The pediatricians skim through their daily news and read this
headline. Fresh in their mind… they pour their coffee and head off towards
work. A low-income family walks into the office with a tiny 3 month old who is
failing to grow as expected…Instantly that pediatrician assumes that the family
is “watering down the formula to extend formula and save money”
That exact phrase is written in my daughters medical files. The
doctor never considered that my daughter could have an underlying condition causing
her failure to thrive. I was just another “low-income mom that couldn’t afford
formula.”
Having that phrase written on a medical note is devastating.
It ends up compromising the care of the child and could potentially lead to devastating
accusations that could tear your family apart.
I cringe when I see news article’s like this become so
popular and hit the mainstream news… because yes some parents have no choice
but to water down formula…and some just plain don’t care… but some have kids
with medical conditions causing them to not gain weight and grow adequately!
I was fortunate that we were considered middle class by the time my younger two came along. When my middle child was at the bottom of the chart in weight and height, the doctor had me measure out everything she ate for a couple of weeks, did some testing, but he also took the time to check where she was developmentally. His final conclusion that she was just small for her age. With my youngest, he just shrugged and said "you've just got another little one." Both girls are now healthy young adults, both still very petite. I shudder to think of what could have happened had I been low-income and dependent on government assistance for medical care.
We were low income when my oldest was a toddler, and when I thought he had a hearing problem, I was told he was "slow" and actually told I was "ignorant." (I had a college degree - poor was temporary for us.) Another doctor did eventually diagnose a hearing problem and he now has a degree in physics.
As a teacher, I see some pretty poor parenting at all income levels. We need to be careful about labels we use. I suspect that most parents who water down formulas have some other problems going besides just being poor.
I feel really sorry for the children who are being neglected, under fed, or malnourished by their irresponsible parents. But I can't support the funding of another program to help them get lower priced formula or a bulk amount of formula for a discounted price.
The sad truth is that many (not all, but many) of these people who cannot afford formula for their children still seem to afford cell phones, car payments, and the beer and cigarettes that they pay cash for after they have used up all their food stamps at the grocery store.
I can't further support helping people who don't want to help themselves and their families.
Yep, you feel sorry enough for them that you want to punish them for the choices their parents make. Seriously, if someone were dying in the street, are you the sort of person that would get angry over the obstruction of traffic?
Almost every low income parent that I know runs out of food near the end of the month, they simply don't give enough out. I have seen homemade formula plenty of times it is "tried and trued"
Yeah, and how many of these low-income families have cable TV and very expensive phones? A LOT. I used to work with low-income teens - they had more expensive clothes than my kids did, and were utterly incredulous when I told them that I did not have cable because I could not afford it.
Interesting. So many low income people always have enough money for cigarettes and alcohol then they have babies they force feed watered down formula so they can continue the cigarettes and alcohol.
I don't understand why low income people don't bother to breastfeed which would actually save them more money in the long run than watering down formula.