London, England – February 16: A photo illustration of chocolate biscuits on February 16, 2018 … [+]
An average toddler in the UK gets around 47% of their calories from ultra-processed foods such as packaged yoghurt, sugary cereals, puddings and wholemeal bread, recent findings show. That percentage rises to 59.4% by the time they are seven years old.
“An increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods was associated with a reduction in the intake of unprocessed and minimally processed foods in favor of ready-made and ready-to-eat products, including pizza, processed meat, savory snacks, puddings and sweet grain products, desserts and confectionery,” the researchers wrote in the paper study. “It has been suggested that the hyper-palatable nature of some ultra-processed foods may partially drive continued consumption of these foods, beyond habit formation.”
Previous research has done that shown that introducing fruits and vegetables to toddlers and children and making them an important part of their diet increases the likelihood that they will accept these foods, and may be more likely to choose them over the temptation of ultra-processed foods well into adulthood . In England, 22% of children being overweight or obese between 4 and 5 years of age. That percentage shoots up to 38% by the time they are 10 to 11 years old.
“Ultra-processed foods such as children’s yogurt and cereal are often marketed as healthy, and while they may provide micronutrients and fiber, they are often a source of free sugar,” the researchers added. “A high intake of free sugar increases the risk of dental caries and contributes to excessive energy intake. This is especially concerning in toddlerhood, when lifelong eating habits have been developed.”
Lead author Rana Conway from the UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care and colleagues analyzed data from 2,592 children whose parents had kept a food diary documenting what their children consumed each day.
They noted that toddlers who consumed more ultra-processed foods consumed less protein than toddlers who consumed smaller amounts.
In a press release, Conway said: “Feeding children healthily in our current food environment is not easy. Highly processed foods are often cheaper than the foods parents would like to feed their children, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.”
“Despite labels suggesting they are a healthy choice, ultra-processed foods marketed to children often contain too much sugar and salt. This makes it harder for parents to make healthy choices,” she added.
The researchers highlighted that in Britain, foods marketed to children, such as breakfast cereals with cartoon characters, are the least healthy because they contain extremely high levels of fat, salt or sugar.
“Across Europe, UPFs marketed to children tend to have a poorer nutritional profile – i.e. more fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium – compared to less processed products. Currently in Britain it is proposed to reduce the promotion of these products to address childhood obesity, in part by encouraging reformulation,” they wrote. “Integrated, far-reaching policies would be needed to rebalance children’s diets toward lower shares of ultra-processed foods. , such as adding warning labels to products, including school food policies and subsidies on fresh and minimally processed foods.”