Children who eat 'proper food' from infancy do not develop enlarged tonsils, adenoids or appendicitis; formula milk and infant cereals are the reason children need these operations.

Original statement

موضوع بقى الالبان الصناعي والسريلاك وكل ده زباله عشان كده العيال كلها في سن خمس سنين يجيله لحميه ولوز وزايده وشيل يا معلم

verbatim according to source. Translation by the project; the Arabic wording is authoritative.

Translation

Children who eat 'proper food' from infancy do not develop enlarged tonsils, adenoids or appendicitis; formula milk and infant cereals are the reason children need these operations.

Origin

Source status

Video transcript (own words)

Attribution

Elawady (machine transcript)

Video

Dr Diaa Al Awady د ضياء العوضي is live! انتاج الطاقة مرتبط بانتاج الجذور الحرة (Open source)

Published

14 September 2025

Timestamp

0:26:00 (location in the original video’s automatic YouTube caption track; confirms where the words occur, not who speaks)

Attribution uncertainty

Archive transcript (YouTube CC or AI-generated); wording may contain transcription errors; no timestamps available.

Claimed mechanism

Wrong food causes lymphoid tissue disease.

Claimed health effect

Tonsil/adenoid hypertrophy, appendicitis.

Population concerned

Children

Geographic restriction by Elawady

none found

Diverging source versions

Scientific assessment

Unclear / insufficient evidence – The data do not allow an assessment either way.

Certainty of evidence: very low – Any assessment is very uncertain.

1. What was claimed?

Diet from infancy prevents these diseases; formula causes them.

2. What is demonstrably correct?

Breastfeeding is recommended and protects against childhood infections (I-INTC-14). A small study found that children breastfed for longer had appendicitis less often than their siblings (I-INTC-12).

3. What is wrong or exaggerated?

The claim that 'all children' develop enlarged tonsils, adenoids or appendicitis because of formula and infant cereals is not supported. In one large clinical study of referred snoring children, breastfeeding was associated with sleep apnoea, a main reason for adenotonsillectomy (I-INTC-13); that study compared breastfeeding with no breastfeeding (not formula or infant cereals specifically), measured sleep apnoea rather than tonsil or adenoid size or surgery, and used a highly selected sample, so it limits the claim but does not show that formula does not cause adenotonsillar hypertrophy.

4. What remains unclear?

Whether infant feeding has a causal effect on appendicitis or adenotonsillar hypertrophy is unknown; the available studies are small or confounded, and no study of infant cereals was found.

5. Which studies support it?

I-INTC-12 (weak association between breastfeeding and less appendicitis); I-INTC-14 (fewer infections with breastfeeding; surgery not addressed).

6. Which studies contradict it?

I-INTC-13 (breastfeeding associated with OSAS in a clinical sample, likely confounded); I-ORG-06 (tonsillectomy indications based on infection frequency and documented sleep apnoea).

7. What applies to Germany and Europe?

Most cited cohorts are Scandinavian (Denmark, Sweden) and directly European; RCTs from the UK and Finland are directly transferable. Guidelines in Europe also emphasize defined indications (not verified here in detail).

8. What is known about Egypt?

No Egypt-specific data on rates or outcomes of tonsillectomy, cholecystectomy, hysterectomy, splenectomy or thyroid surgery were identified in this review.

9. What practical conclusion is appropriate?

No conclusion possible; the claim is unproven.

Assessment details

Rationale for certainty of evidence

A targeted search found only indirect or weak evidence. One small sibling case-control study associated longer breastfeeding with less appendicitis (I-INTC-12). Breastfeeding protects against childhood infections, but surgical outcomes are not addressed (I-INTC-14). In a large clinical sample, breastfeeding (not formula) was associated with childhood sleep apnoea, a main indication for adenotonsillectomy, probably due to confounding (I-INTC-13). Indications for tonsillectomy are defined by infection frequency and documented sleep apnoea (I-ORG-06). No study supports the claim that formula or infant cereals are 'the reason' children need these operations.

Source quality

Assertion without data.

Regional transferability

n/a

Individual exceptions

n/a

Regional scope of the claim

general (biological/medical)

Last reviewed

25 October 2026 provisional

In plain language

Elawady said that formula milk and infant cereals are why children develop enlarged adenoids, tonsils and appendicitis. Breastfeeding has real benefits, such as fewer infections, and one small study linked longer breastfeeding to less appendicitis. But no study shows that formula is the reason children need these operations, and one large study even found sleep apnoea more often in breastfed children, probably for other reasons. The idea remains unproven.

Studies on this claim

Regional context

Germany / EU

Most cited cohorts are Scandinavian (Denmark, Sweden) and directly European; RCTs from the UK and Finland are directly transferable. Guidelines in Europe also emphasize defined indications (not verified here in detail).

Egypt

No Egypt-specific data on rates or outcomes of tonsillectomy, cholecystectomy, hysterectomy, splenectomy or thyroid surgery were identified in this review.

• Antimicrobial use in food animals and antibiotic growth promoters
• Hormones in poultry, meat, milk and farmed fish
• Dioxins, PCBs and PFAS in eggs and other animal foods
• Aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products
• Drinking water quality
• Import controls and the meaning of RASFF notifications for Egyptian products

What applies in my country?

General scientific assessment

Unclear / insufficient evidence Unproven: breastfeeding is beneficial, but formula has not been shown to cause the need for tonsil, adenoid or appendix surgery.

The following areas of food safety are relevant to this statement:

• Veterinary medicines and antibiotics
• Hormonal growth promoters
• Contaminants (heavy metals, PFAS, PCBs, dioxins, nitrate)
• Mycotoxins (mould toxins)
• Controls, imports, recalls, labelling

Dairy

Limits: legal rules describe what is allowed, not what every single food contains. Measurement data come from samples and are meaningful only together with their method details.

Country of residence or purchase Compare with another country

References

1. Risk factors of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children.. Xu Z et al.. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2020 · PMID 32131901 · DOI 10.1186/s40463-020-0404-1
2. Clinical Practice Guideline: Tonsillectomy in Children (Update).. Mitchell RB et al.. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2019 · PMID 30798778 · DOI 10.1177/0194599818801757
3. Does breast feeding provide protection against acute appendicitis? A case-control study.. Alves JG et al.. Trop Doct 2008 · PMID 18820196 · DOI 10.1258/td.2008.070404
4. Breastfeeding in the 21st century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect.. Victora CG et al.. Lancet 2016 · PMID 26869575 · DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01024-7