Harrigan Paige B, Misyak Sarah A, Volpe Stella L, Hedrick Valisa E, Kim Mingang, Zheng Simin, Schenk Todd
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States.
Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, United States.
Health Aff Sch. 2025 May 6;3(6):qxaf096. doi: 10.1093/haschl/qxaf096. eCollection 2025 Jun.
In the spring and summer of 2022, an infant formula shortage in the United States received extensive media coverage, widespread social media engagement, and visible political attention. The purpose of this study was to explore changes to federal infant feeding policies in relation to the 2022 infant formula shortage to determine whether the shortage provoked policy change, and if so, the nature of those policy changes. A mapping of federal laws, regulations, and presidential documents passed or substantively amended between 2014 and 2023 was conducted to explore changes in US infant feeding policies prior to and following the shortage. Fisher's exact tests with post hoc comparisons were used to determine associations between policy topic areas and when policy changes occurred. Fifty-seven infant feeding policy changes met the inclusion criteria. There was a statistically significant relationship between the formula shortage and policies addressing infant formula supply, suggesting policy mobilization and attention from policymakers. There was no statistically significant change in policies on breastfeeding or other infant feeding dimensions associated with the timing of the shortage, suggesting that policymakers' attention was narrow in scope. It is unclear to what degree the policy changes will endure or prevent another infant formula shortage.
2022年春夏，美国婴儿配方奶粉短缺事件受到了媒体的广泛报道、社交媒体的大量关注以及政界的明显重视。本研究的目的是探讨2022年婴儿配方奶粉短缺事件引发的联邦婴儿喂养政策变化，以确定短缺是否促使政策发生改变，若有改变，这些政策变化的性质是什么。我们梳理了2014年至2023年间通过或实质性修订的联邦法律、法规及总统文件，以探究短缺事件前后美国婴儿喂养政策的变化。采用费舍尔精确检验及事后比较来确定政策主题领域与政策变化发生时间之间的关联。57项婴儿喂养政策变化符合纳入标准。配方奶粉短缺与针对婴儿配方奶粉供应的政策之间存在统计学上的显著关联，这表明政策受到了推动以及政策制定者的关注。与短缺时间相关的母乳喂养或其他婴儿喂养方面的政策没有统计学上的显著变化，这表明政策制定者的关注范围较窄。尚不清楚这些政策变化将在多大程度上持续下去或防止再次出现婴儿配方奶粉短缺的情况。
