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Abstract
<p class="first" id="d3124088e61">The Federal Special Supplemental Food Program for
Women, Infants and Children provides
nutritious foods and dietary counselling to low income women and children with a medically
certified nutritional risk. The Public Health Foundation, a large WIC agency in Los
Angeles, observed declining breastfeeding rates among Indochinese participants. We
interviewed 110 Cambodian, ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese WIC participants about their
infant feeding decisions and experience. These women believed that formula was superior
to breastmilk for a number of reasons, some related to the Asian humoral medical system.
The women described 'excessive cooling' during childbirth that they hoped to counter-balance
by consuming humorally hot foods for 100 days post partum. A hot maternal diet was
thought to produce unhealthy breastmilk after 1 month, so the women preferred using
infant formula, perceived to be stable and more nourishing than breastmilk. The WIC
Program is using these and other findings to make breastfeeding more attractive to
Southeast Asians.
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