Michael C. Latham

Michael C. Latham (May 6, 1928 – April 1, 2011) was a Tanzanian-born professor emeritus at Cornell University.^[1][2]

Life

Latham was born in Tanzania in 1928.^[3] Latham studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland for both his undergraduate (1949) and graduate (1952) degrees.^[3] Later, he graduated with a master's degree in tropical medicine from the University of London in 1958 and a master's degree in public health and nutrition from Harvard University in 1965.^[3]

Between 1955 and 1964, Latham worked for the Ministry of Health in Tanzania and served as its director of nutrition.^[3]

In 1963, Latham began advocating for the use of breastfeeding instead of infant milk formula, and after a decade of struggle, in 1981 he was able to regulate the marketing of infant formula.^[3]

To promote breastfeeding, he co-founded the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action in 1991.^[3]

Awards

• Order of the British Empire (1965)^[3]
• American Society of Nutritional Sciences Kellogg Prize in International Nutrition^[3]
• Gopalan Medal awarded by the Nutrition Society of India^[3]

Bibliography

• Kilimanjaro Tales: The Saga of a Medical Family in Africa^[4]
• Human Nutrition in Tropical Africa^[5]
• Human Nutrition in the Developing World^[6]
• Hidden Hunger and the Role of Public-Private Partnership^[7]