Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern?
Proper nutrition in infancy and early childhood is crucial to ensuring optimal child development, growth, and better health outcomes later in life. The nutrient profile model proposed by WHO/Europe aims to assess the nutritional quality and promotional/marketing aspects of commercial baby foods aime...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Foods |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/10/1424 |
| _version_ | 1797499882151346176 |
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| author | Mariana Santos Filipa Matias Isabel Loureiro Ana Isabel Rito Isabel Castanheira Alexandra Bento Ricardo Assunção |
| author_facet | Mariana Santos Filipa Matias Isabel Loureiro Ana Isabel Rito Isabel Castanheira Alexandra Bento Ricardo Assunção |
| author_sort | Mariana Santos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Proper nutrition in infancy and early childhood is crucial to ensuring optimal child development, growth, and better health outcomes later in life. The nutrient profile model proposed by WHO/Europe aims to assess the nutritional quality and promotional/marketing aspects of commercial baby foods aimed at children up to 36 months. We used commercial data from 191 baby foods collected between March 2021 and July 2021, from eight supermarket chains in the Lisbon Metropolitan area. According to the model specifications and the NOVA classification system, we assessed the nutritional quality and promotion aspects and the degree of processing, respectively. The presence of at least one sugar-contributing ingredient was found in 34.0% of the products; 13.9% of products listed sugars and 15.0% listed fruit juices or concentrates as an ingredient. The claim “No added sugar” was present in 69.6% of products. Only 35.1% of products comply with all the nutritional requirements of the model. Concerning processing classification, 61.8% of products were ultra-processed, and about 57.0% were indicated for children < 12 months. These findings reinforce the importance of implementing measures to ensure that commercial foods for infants are marketed appropriately and to promote foods with a lower degree of processing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-140da67d46fe41cebc424aaab59f6fde |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj.art-140da67d46fe41cebc424aaab59f6fde2023-11-23T10:58:56ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582022-05-011110142410.3390/foods11101424Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern?Mariana Santos0Filipa Matias1Isabel Loureiro2Ana Isabel Rito3Isabel Castanheira4Alexandra Bento5Ricardo Assunção6Food and Nutrition Department, National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, PortugalFood and Nutrition Department, National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, PortugalNOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Center (CISP), Comprehensive Health Research Center, NOVA University of Lisbon, Avenida Padre Cruz, 1600-560 Lisbon, PortugalFood and Nutrition Department, National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, PortugalFood and Nutrition Department, National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, PortugalFood and Nutrition Department, National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, PortugalFood and Nutrition Department, National Health Institute Dr Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1649-016 Lisbon, PortugalProper nutrition in infancy and early childhood is crucial to ensuring optimal child development, growth, and better health outcomes later in life. The nutrient profile model proposed by WHO/Europe aims to assess the nutritional quality and promotional/marketing aspects of commercial baby foods aimed at children up to 36 months. We used commercial data from 191 baby foods collected between March 2021 and July 2021, from eight supermarket chains in the Lisbon Metropolitan area. According to the model specifications and the NOVA classification system, we assessed the nutritional quality and promotion aspects and the degree of processing, respectively. The presence of at least one sugar-contributing ingredient was found in 34.0% of the products; 13.9% of products listed sugars and 15.0% listed fruit juices or concentrates as an ingredient. The claim “No added sugar” was present in 69.6% of products. Only 35.1% of products comply with all the nutritional requirements of the model. Concerning processing classification, 61.8% of products were ultra-processed, and about 57.0% were indicated for children < 12 months. These findings reinforce the importance of implementing measures to ensure that commercial foods for infants are marketed appropriately and to promote foods with a lower degree of processing.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/10/1424nutrient profile modelcommercially available complementary foodssugarsultra-processed foodsinfants and young children |
| spellingShingle | Mariana Santos Filipa Matias Isabel Loureiro Ana Isabel Rito Isabel Castanheira Alexandra Bento Ricardo Assunção Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern? Foods nutrient profile model commercially available complementary foods sugars ultra-processed foods infants and young children |
| title | Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern? |
| title_full | Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern? |
| title_fullStr | Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern? |
| title_short | Commercial Baby Foods Aimed at Children up to 36 Months: Are They a Matter of Concern? |
| title_sort | commercial baby foods aimed at children up to 36 months are they a matter of concern |
| topic | nutrient profile model commercially available complementary foods sugars ultra-processed foods infants and young children |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/10/1424 |
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