Nearly two-thirds of supermarket baby foods are unhealthy and almost all baby food labels contain misleading marketing claims designed to “trick” parents.
These are the surprising conclusions of a study by researchers at the George Institute for Global Health in Australia that analyzed 651 food items marketed to children aged 6 to 36 months sold by 10 US supermarket chains.
The study, published in a peer-reviewed journal, Nutrients A study carried out on Wednesday found that 60 percent of foods do not meet nutritional standards set by the World Health Organisation.
“Our findings highlight the urgent need for better regulation and guidance in the U.S. infant food market. The health of future generations depends on it.”
Additionally, 70% of baby foods did not meet protein requirements, 44% exceeded the recommended amount of total sugar, 25% did not meet calorie recommendations and 20% exceeded the WHO recommended amount of sodium.
The survey found that the products of greatest concern were snack foods and pouched foods.
“Studies have shown that 50% of sugar intake from baby foods comes from pouches, making them one of the worst contributors.” said Elizabeth Dunford, PhD, senior study author and adjunct assistant professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sales of these convenient baby food pouches have soared 900% in the United States.According to the study, in the past 13 years.
“These packets are very worrying because children have to learn to chew, so they should be eating regular fruit, not the pureed sweet stuff that comes in packets. Often these blends are not natural and are much sweeter than real fruit, so children are being taught to only like the super sweet stuff.” said Dr. Mark Caulkins, a gastroenterologist at the University of Tennessee and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on nutrition;
Caulkins noted that children who aren’t exposed to foods with a variety of textures “can develop texture aversions and reject anything that isn’t smooth, pureed.”
According to the study, “snacks and finger foods, such as fruit bars, cereal bars and puffed snacks, accounted for around 20% of products available for purchase in 2023, but had the lowest overall compliance with WHO nutrition and promotion standards. These foods had low protein content and high energy, sodium and sugar content, and often contained added free sugars and sweeteners.”
Dunford said consuming processed foods during childhood can set the stage for lifelong unhealthy eating habits that can lead to obesity, diabetes and some cancers.
She added: “Time-poor parents are increasingly turning to convenience foods, many of which lack key nutrients children need to develop, and which they believe are healthier than they actually are.”
The study also found that 99.4% of the baby foods analysed contained misleading claims on their labels that violated WHO advertising guidelines: on average, products contained four misleading claims, and some contained as many as 11.
“Common claims included ‘non-genetically modified (GM)’ (70%), ‘organic’ (59%), ‘BPA-free’ (37%) and ‘free of artificial colors and fragrances’ (25%),” the study authors wrote.
Dunford said this type of marketing could lead consumers to believe a product has higher nutritional value than it actually does.
Dr Daisy Coyle, a research fellow at the George Institute and one of the study’s authors, said these marketing claims create a “health halo effect” around these products.
“The lack of regulation in this area leaves a wide open door for the food industry to deceive busy parents,” Coyle explained. “We’ve seen this not only in the use of misleading claims, but also in the use of misleading names where the ingredient names do not reflect the main ingredient on the ingredients list.”
Childhood obesity is Doubling Over the past 30 years, obesity has increased by 1 million children and 300,000 adolescents, and nearly 15 million Americans between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese. According to To the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Our findings highlight the urgent need for better regulation and guidance in the U.S. infant food market — the health of future generations depends on it,” Dunford said.
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