Football star Theo Walcott in The Times supporting breastfeeding

The Times on Saturday ran a story about the young footballer Theo Walcott and his support for breastfeeding. You can read the article at:
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article2645153.ece

Here's an extract:

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He seems unconcerned (or perhaps unaware) about the potentially lethal dressing-room combination of being baby-faced and advocating mother’s milk. “I know I’ll get the mickey taken out of me, but that’s always happening anyway. What can I say? It’s the right thing to do. It’s about healthy eating, getting healthy bones, right from the start of life, and men need to support their wives in that. That’s what I’ll be doing with my kids.” He adds hurriedly: “I’m not saying I’ll have them now!” He and Mel, 18, a mayor’s daughter from Southampton, who is about to train as a physiotherapist, have been an item for two years.

The breastfeeding manifesto that Walcott is promoting has been produced by a coalition of 39 organisations, including the Royal Society of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of Midwives. It not only calls for health-care professionals to be fully trained to support mothers with breastfeeding but also for government support for breastfeeding in public. Walcott says he’s amazed when people give dirty looks to his sister when she’s breastfeeding in restaurants.

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I met Theo and his mother Lynn at the launch of the Breastfeeding Manifesto, which Baby Milk Action is also promoting. See:
http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2007/05/launch-of-breastfeeding-manifesto.html

We are with our pamphlet Hard Sell Formula, which exposes the strategies baby food companies use to undermine breastfeeding.

To help raise funds for the Breastfeeding Manifesto coalition we have put some great tops for adults and babies into our on-line Virtual Shop. See:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/manifesto.html

They are shown here with Alison Baum, the coordinator of the Coalition.


All proceeds after costs go to the Coalition.

Don't forget to check out our merchandise at the same time, such as our 2008 breastfeeding calendar. Our popular fridge magnets are back in the shop as well:


This are very popular. They are hand made in Brazil, so clothing and hair styles vary. A real collector's item. I had taken them out the shop as we tried to build up supplies, but have now initiated a new stock system, so you can see immediately how many are available. Go to:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/shop/magsanddolls.html

This is a critically important time for us and the wider coalition as we work to strengthen the UK law on formula marketing. The coalition has endorsed the report we produced on behalf of the Baby Feeding Law Group for the government's consultation on the law. It is called: Protecting breastfeeding. Protecting babies fed on formula.

It's great to have the support of Theo Walcott and his family for the campaign and generating publicity. Thank you for your support too.