Healthy Children Project, East Sandwich, Massachusetts, USA.
Breastfeed Med. 2020 Oct;15(10):671-679. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2020.0090. Epub 2020 Jul 31.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas emissions must decline by around 45% by 2030 and reach net zero in 2050. Biofuels, solar, and wind energy are obvious choices for reduction of the 75% of emissions from the energy sector (including transportation), but making reductions in the remaining 25%, the food sector, is more of a challenge. One way is to change our diets to increase low-carbon food alternatives. We chose to examine the impact of powdered baby formula products. The aim of this study is to compute a minimal estimate of green house gas (GHG) emissions for powdered baby formula products sold in North America comprising Canada, Mexico, and the United States. We found that in 2016, the North America Greenhouse Gas emissions (in tons of CO eq.) attributable to sales of powdered formula for Canada was 70,256, for Mexico, 435,820, and for the United States, 655,956. The North American per capita emissions based on infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months of age in 2016 was, at a minimum, 59.06 kg of CO eq. The environmental and Greenhouse Gas impact of powdered baby formula, and related hazards arising from climate change, can be a relevant factor for health care providers in their advice to families on infant feeding. This study makes an innovative and potentially useful addition to the emerging evidence on this issue and should be considered when developing and funding infant and young child feeding policies and supportive programs.
根据政府间气候变化专门委员会的数据，温室气体排放必须在 2030 年之前减少约 45%，并在 2050 年达到净零排放。减少 75%的温室气体排放（包括交通领域）显然可以选择生物燃料、太阳能和风能，但要减少剩余 25%的温室气体排放，即食品部门，就更具挑战性了。一种方法是改变我们的饮食，增加低碳食品的替代品。我们选择研究婴儿配方奶粉产品的影响。本研究的目的是计算在北美（包括加拿大、墨西哥和美国）销售的粉状婴儿配方奶粉产品的温室气体 (GHG) 排放量的最小估计值。我们发现，2016 年，加拿大销售的粉状配方奶粉的北美温室气体排放量（以吨二氧化碳当量计）为 70256 吨，墨西哥为 435820 吨，美国为 655956 吨。2016 年，从婴儿出生到 36 个月大的婴儿和幼儿的人均排放量至少为 59.06 公斤二氧化碳当量。婴儿配方奶粉的环境和温室气体影响，以及气候变化带来的相关危害，可能是医疗保健提供者在向家庭提供婴儿喂养建议时的一个相关因素。本研究为这一问题的新出现证据提供了创新和潜在有用的补充，在制定和资助婴儿和幼儿喂养政策和支持性计划时应予以考虑。
