Environmental Impact of Feeding with Infant Formula in Comparison with Breastfeeding

Young children have unique nutritional requirements, and breastfeeding is the best option to support healthy growth and development. Concerns have been raised around the increasing use of milk-based infant formulas in replacement of breastfeeding, in regards to health, social, economic and environme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-05, Vol.19 (11), p.6397
Main Authors: Andresen, Ellen Cecilie, Hjelkrem, Anne-Grete Roer, Bakken, Anne Kjersti, Andersen, Lene Frost
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidification
Babies
Baby foods
Breast feeding
Breastfeeding & lactation
Carbon dioxide
Carbon footprint
Climate change
Cow's milk
Dietary minerals
Environmental factors
Environmental impact
Eutrophication
Fatty acids
Food products
Global warming
Impact analysis
Infant formulas
Infants
Lactose
Land use
Milk
Nitrogen
Nutritional requirements
Product life cycle
Proteins
Recipes
Sulfur
Sustainability
Terrestrial environments
Vegetable oils
Vitamins
Womens health
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Summary:Young children have unique nutritional requirements, and breastfeeding is the best option to support healthy growth and development. Concerns have been raised around the increasing use of milk-based infant formulas in replacement of breastfeeding, in regards to health, social, economic and environmental factors. However, literature on the environmental impact of infant formula feeding and breastfeeding is scarce. In this study we estimated the environmental impact of four months exclusive feeding with infant formula compared to four months exclusive breastfeeding in a Norwegian setting. We used life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, including the impact categories global warming potential, terrestrial acidification, marine and freshwater eutrophication, and land use. We found that the environmental impact of four months exclusive feeding with infant formula was 35-72% higher than that of four months exclusive breastfeeding, depending on the impact category. For infant formula, cow milk was the main contributor to total score for all impact categories. The environmental impact of breastfeeding was dependant on the composition of the lactating mother's diet. In conclusion, we found that breastfeeding has a lower environmental impact than feeding with infant formula. A limitation of the study is the use of secondary LCA data for raw ingredients and processes.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph19116397