ABSTRACT
The negative impact that powdered milk substitutes for babies can have on their health is now widely appreciated in the first world. Breast milk is unique in its composition, varying its contents during and from one feed to another according to an individual baby's needs. The risk greatly increased once mothers either added inappropriate stretchers to the formula or diluted it beyond the specified levels. From the purely management perspective, there are important economic advantages in breastfeeding to families, health providers, family planning programmes and national budgets. In 1997 that breakfast cereal was the only one that had nothing but good said about it on health grounds. Moreover, as part of the World Bank structural adjustment policies, third-world client governments were encouraged to cut back on public sector spending and to push money into support for private initiatives.
