60% of U.S. Baby, Toddler Food Not Meet Nutrition Standards: Study

About 60 percent of packaged baby food sold in the United States doesn't meet nutritional standards established by the World Health Organization, according to research published recently that opens a window into the role that inadequate diet poses in children's health.

Researchers from the George Institute for Global Health, a medical research center in Australia, analyzed 651 commercial infant food products purchased from large U.S. grocery chains between March and May 2023. They used standards in the 2022 nutrient and promotion profile outlined by the WHO Regional Office for Europe as a benchmark for evaluating these products.

The researchers, whose study appeared last week in the journal Nutrients, found that 70 percent did not meet protein requirements that are part of WHO nutrition standards and that 44 percent exceeded total sugar limits.

While WHO nutrition standards are not legally binding, they serve as a guideline for countries. Many countries, including the United States, establish their own nutrition guidelines, with U.S. authorities emphasizing eating vegetables and fruits. In the study, the researchers noted that 1 in 4 products did not meet calorie requirements and that 1 in 5 exceeded recommended sodium levels.

"The nutritional deficiencies highlighted in the study and the increased prevalence of ultra-processed foods underscore a growing concern for U.S. children," said The Washington Post on Wednesday in its report about the finding.

Elizabeth Dunford, one of the study's authors and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina, said people are not born with dietary preferences but instead adopt behaviors based on their environment and experiences.

As children grow, their food choices are heavily influenced by what they are exposed to, and many foods marketed to U.S. children are high in sugar, fat and preservatives while lacking essential nutrients, Dunford said.

"Dietary preferences are established quite young," Dunford was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "Half of all the sugar that young kids are consuming through these commercial foods come from squeezed pouches, so that's certainly an area we have to be more careful about."
-XINHUA