Benjamin Spock
Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician[1] and left-wing political activist.[2] His book Baby and Child Care (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the 20th century, selling 500,000 copies in the six months after its initial publication and 50 million by the time of Spock's death in 1998.[3] The book's premise told mothers, "You know more than you think you do."[4] Spock's parenting advice and recommendations revolutionized the upbringing of children in the U.S., and he is considered one of the most famous and influential Americans of the 20th century.[5][6]
"Dr. Spock" redirects here. For the Star Trek character, see Spock.
Benjamin Spock
March 15, 1998 (aged 94)
-
Jane Cheney(m. 1927; div. 1976)
Mary Morgan(m. 1976)
2
Marjorie Spock (sister)
E. Mead Johnson Award (1948)
Mayo Clinic 1947–1951
University of Pittsburgh 1951–1955
Case Western Reserve University 1955–1967
Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis in an effort to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas influenced several generations of parents, encouraging them to be more flexible and affectionate with their children and to treat them as individuals. However, his theories were widely criticized by colleagues for relying heavily on anecdotal evidence rather than serious academic research.[7]
After undergoing a self-described "conversion to socialism", Spock became an activist in the New Left and anti-Vietnam War movements during the '60s and early '70s, culminating in his run for President of the United States as the People's Party nominee in 1972. He campaigned on a maximum wage, legalized abortion, and withdrawing troops from all foreign countries. His books were criticized by conservatives for propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratification, a charge that Spock denied.[8]
Books[edit]
In 1946, Spock published The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, which became a best-seller. Its message to parents is "You know more than you think you do."[4] By 1998, it had sold more than 50 million copies, and had been translated into 42 languages.[14][15] According to the New York Times, Baby and Child Care was, throughout its first 52 years, the second-best-selling book, next to the Bible.[22] According to other sources, it was among best-sellers, albeit not second-best-selling.
Spock advocated ideas about parenting that were considered out of the mainstream. Over time, his books helped to bring about major change. Previously, experts (such as Truby King) had told parents babies needed to learn to sleep on a regular schedule, and that picking them up and holding them when they cried would only teach them to cry more and not to sleep through the night (a notion that borrows from behaviorism). They were told to feed their children on a regular schedule, and that they should not pick them up, kiss them, or hug them, because that would not prepare them to be strong, independent individuals in a harsh world. In contrast, Spock encouraged parents to show affection for their children and to see them as individuals.
By the late 1960s, however, Spock's opposition to the Vietnam War had damaged his reputation. The 1968 edition of Baby and Child Care sold half as many copies of the prior edition. Later in life, Spock wrote Dr. Spock on Vietnam and co-wrote an autobiography entitled Spock on Spock (with wife Mary Morgan Spock), in which he stated his attitude toward aging: Delay and Deny.
In the seventh edition of Baby and Child Care published shortly after he died, Spock advocated for a bold change in children's diets, recommending children switch to a vegan diet after age 2.[26] Spock himself had switched to an all-plant diet in 1991 after a series of illnesses that left him weak and unable to walk unaided. After making the dietary change, he lost 50 pounds, regained his ability to walk and became healthier overall. The revised edition stated children on an all-plant diet will reduce their risk of developing heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain diet-related cancers. Studies suggest that vegetarian children are leaner, and adult vegetarians are known to be at lower risk of such diseases.[27] However, Spock's recommendations were criticized as being irresponsible towards children's health and children's ability to sustain normal growth, which has been aided with minerals such as calcium, riboflavin, vitamin D, iron, zinc and at times protein.[22]
Spock's approach to childhood nutrition was criticized by a number of experts, including co-author Boston pediatrician Steven J. Parker,[28] as too extreme and likely to result in nutritional deficiencies unless it was carefully planned and executed, which would be difficult for working parents.[22] T. Berry Brazelton, Boston City Hospital pediatrician who specialized in child behavior (and longtime admirer and friend of Dr. Spock), called the dietary recommendations "absolutely insane."[22] Neal Barnard, president of Physicians for Responsible Medicine, a Washington organization advocating strict vegetarian diets, acknowledged he drafted the nutrition section in the 1998 edition of Baby and Child Care, but said Spock edited it to give it "his personal touch."[22] It was acknowledged that in Spock's final years, he had strokes, bouts with pneumonia and a heart attack.[29]
Views[edit]
Sudden infant death syndrome[edit]
Spock advocated that infants should not sleep on their backs, commenting in his 1958 edition that "if [an infant] vomits, he's more likely to choke on the vomitus." This advice was extremely influential on healthcare providers, with nearly unanimous support through the 1990s.[30] Later empirical studies, however, found a significantly increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) associated with infants sleeping on their abdomens. Advocates of evidence-based medicine have used this as an example of the importance of basing healthcare recommendations on statistical evidence. One researcher estimated that as many as 50,000 infant deaths in Europe, Australia, and the U.S. could have been prevented had this advice been changed by 1970 when such evidence became available.[31]
Male circumcision[edit]
In the 1940s, Spock favored circumcision of males performed within a few days of birth. However, in the 1976 revision of Baby and Child Care he concurred with a 1971 American Academy of Pediatrics task force that there was no medical reason to recommend routine circumcision, and in a 1989 article for Redbook he stated that "circumcision of males is traumatic, painful, and of questionable value."[32] He received the first Human Rights Award from the International Symposium on Circumcision (ISC) in 1991 and was quoted as saying, "My own preference, if I had the good fortune to have another son, would be to leave his little penis alone."[33]
Olympic success[edit]
Spock was part of the all-Yale Men's eight rowing team at the Paris Olympics, captained by James Rockefeller (later president of what would become Citigroup). Competing on the Seine, the team won the gold medal.[53]