In this March 11, 2015, photo, the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland. A new study finds that about 60 percent of foods designed for infants and toddlers do not meet WHO nutritional standards. Raphael Sutter/AP Hide caption
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Raphael Sutter/AP
Nearly 60 percent of foods targeted at infants and toddlers fail to meet nutritional standards set by the World Health Organisation, a new study finds.
Researchers tested 651 products at eight North Carolina food retailers, including Kroger, Walmart, Costco, Ahold Delhaize, Publix, Sam’s Club, Target and Aldi, in 2023. Other samples were taken from the websites of Safeway and HEB.
Only about 30% of the products met the agency’s protein recommendations and 56% met the sugar guidelines. About 93% of the products met the fat recommendations, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Nutrition.
Nearly a quarter of the products did not meet calorie requirements and about 20% exceeded the recommended sodium limit.
“Childhood is a critical period of rapid growth and when taste preferences and eating habits are formed that can lead to the development of chronic diseases later in life, such as obesity, diabetes and some cancers,” said Dr. Elizabeth Dunford, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina and co-author of the study.
She added: “Time-poor parents are increasingly turning to convenience foods, not realising that many of these foods lack key nutrients children need, and believing them to be healthier than they actually are.”
Around 60% of the products complied with WHO age labelling recommendations that age should be measured in months and years, but many labels used symbols such as “sitting”, “toddler”, “crawling baby” or “toddler”.
On average, each product made nearly five health and nutrition claims, but the study found that many of these were banned by the WHO, such as “pesticide-free,” “organic” and “preservative-free.”
