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status).” There are no frequency charts, scatter plots, or other visual aids to give us a look at the actual groupings. For
example, babies' birth weights were anywhere from six pounds to nine pounds, but the progress of these babies is not
followed separately but averaged into a mean. We don’t know whether the larger babies lost weight or continued to gain,
for example. The socioeconomic status of the moms computed using the Hollingshead Four-Factor Index of Social Scale
Status, ranges from eight to sixty-six. How many moms were in each category? Which scores of moms breastfed or fed
formula? We don’t know because we have no access to that data.
The SF babies displayed a “unique bone accrual profile [the way they built their bones] with lower BMC [bone mineral
content] at age three months followed by great bone accretion [gain] thereafter as compared to the BF and CMF babies.”
Up to three months the BF babies had a higher BMC (bone mineral content) but by age nine to twelve months the BMC
was higher in the SF babies.

The “unique bone profile” of SF babies may indeed be attributed to other factors. A 1993 paper from a research group
at the Departments of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and University of Pittsburgh, (PA) and Ross Laboratories,
found that the BMC was similar in all feeding groups but the vitamin D levels were “consistently elevated in infants fed
4
Prosobee” which “is usually perceived as . . . inadequate mineral intake or high mineral need.” Prosobee was one of the
soy-based formulas used in this study.

Another factor for the heavier bones in the SF babies may possibly be attributed to fluoride (F). Not only does soy formula
contain fluoride but it is very possible that babies in this study are drinking soy formula made with fluoridated water.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s “My Water’s Fluoride,” the Central Arkansas Water supplying Little
Rock serving over three hundred thousand people is fluoridated with an optimal fluoride level of .80 mg/L.
Soy formula contains much higher amounts of fluoride than BF or CMF, as well as other problematic minerals such as
aluminum, manganese and cadmium. Human breast milk contains virtually no fluoride, a mere four parts per billion,
5
about two hundred fifty times less fluoride than is added to water in fluoridation programs. Thus, fluoride cannot be
considered an essential nutrient as some dentists claim. 6

The single clearest effect of fluoride on the skeleton is that it stimulates the osteoblast cells to build new cells resulting in
increased bone density. If these new cells are not mineralized, rickets can result. Because fluoride stimulates increased
cell building, there is the risk that it may induce malignancy in the bone, and fluoride may become an independent risk
7
factor for new osteosarcomas. Indeed several studies have closely linked the development of osteosarcomas in boys
8
with fluoride intake.
Infants fed formula made with fluoridated water ingest the highest fluoride dose from water of all age groups in the popu-
9
lation. Some practitioners still recommend fluoride drops be given to babies. In 1994 the American Dental Association
and the American Academy of Pediatrics reversed their prior advisory and recommended that these supplements not
be used with infants. In 2007 the American Dental Association warned that parents of children under one year "should
consider using water that has no or low levels of fluoride" when mixing baby formula, due to concerns about fluorosis,
damage to the enamel of the teeth, which is a sign of excessive fluoride intake. 10

ReFeReNCeS
1. Scafoglieri A et al. Whole Body Composition by Hologic QDR 4500/A DXA: System Reliability versus User Accuracy and Precision, Applications and
experiences of Quality Control. 2011. Intech Europe. http://bit.ly/14c8Q2M
2. Onusic S. More Government Promotion of Soy-Based Infant Formulas. Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts. Winter 2012; 13(4): 71-77.
3. Andres A, Cleves MA, Bellando JB, Pivik RT, Casey PH, Badger TM. Developmental Status of 1-Year-Old Infants Fed Breast Milk, Cow’s Milk Formula,
or Soy Formula. Pediatrics. 2012 Jun;129(6):1134-40.
4. Andres A, Casey PH, Cleves MA, Badger TM. Body fat and bone mineral content of infants fed breast milk, cow's milk formula, or soy formula during
the first year of life. J Pediatr. 2013 Jul;163(1):49-54.
5. Mimouni F, Campaigne B, Neylan M, Tsang RC. Bone mineralization in the first year of life in infants fed human milk, cow-milk formula, or soy-based
formula. J Pediatr. 1993 Mar;122(3):348-54.
6. Daniel KT. The Whole Soy Story. The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food. 2005. Washington DC: New Trends. 260-263; McKnight-Hanes MC,
Leverett DH, Adair SM, Shields CP. Fluoride content of infant formulas: soy-based formulas as a potential factor in dental fluorosis. Pediatr Dent. 1988
Sept;10(3):189-94.
7. Fluoride Action Network. Infant exposure. New Understandings. http://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/infant-exposure/discoveries.
8. National Research Council. Fluoride in Drinking Water: A Scientific Review of EPA’s Standards. 2005. Washington DC: National Academies Press. 109.
9. Connett M. Fluoride Action Network. Fluoride and Osteosarcoma: A Timeline. June 2012. http://www.fluoridealert.org/studies/cancer05/
10. Fluoride Action Network. Infant exposure. Overview. http://www.fluoridealert.org/issues/infant-exposure/

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