Results of a recent study which analyzed baby foods for weaning babies that are available in the UK reveal that they fail to meet dietary requirements of weaning infants. Researchers who conducted the study (it appeared in BMJ’s Archives of Disease in Childhood) said most commercial baby foods offer little extra nutritional value over breast milk, while many are labeled for babies from the age of 4 months despite the fact that pediatricians recommend exclusive breast-/formula-feeding until the age of 6 months.
The study authors said they were interested in the types of commercially available food products for weaning babies in the UK and their nutritional value. They studied products that are produced by four leading British baby food manufacturers and two suppliers. The foods they analyzed ranged from powdered meals to soft and wet ready-made foods to cereals and finger foods. The researchers looked at various nutritional factors including the content of calories, sugars, proteins, salt, carbohydrates and calcium. They acquired information from the product labels, manufacturers’ websites and manufacturers’ e-mail replies.
Of over 450 analyzed foods, nearly 80 percent were ready-made spoon foods, while nearly one half of them were labeled as appropriate for infants from the age of 4 months. They were found to have virtually identical energy value as breast milk, while protein content was in average 40 percent higher as in baby formula. The researchers noted that iron content was highest in meat foods but it wasn’t any higher from that in formula. Finger foods were found to have both higher energy and nutritional value but they also had high sugar content.
The researchers also compared commercial baby foods and home-made foods that are typically given to infants. They found home-made foods to have both higher energy and nutritional content. The only exception was iron content which was higher in commercial foods. But according to the study authors, 50 grams of home-made food provides weaning infants with the same amount of energy and nutrients as 100 grams of comparable commercial baby food.
What Do the Results of the Study Mean?
As the study authors noted, foods for weaning babies need to provide more energy and nutrients than breast milk or formula. But as their findings reveal, the majority of commercial baby foods don’t provide neither more energy or nutrients. Another thing the researchers found problematic is the use of fruit sugars as an alternative to refined sugar because as they explained, fruit sugars don’t reduce the risk of tooth decay. Lastly, they expressed concern about nearly two thirds of stand-alone baby foods being sweet foods because exposure to particular tastes and flavors during infancy has a major influence on food preferences later in life. Several studies that were conducted in the recent years have shown that infants and toddlers who are fed with foods high in carbohydrates, fats and salt are more likely to eat these foods when older as well which puts them at increased risk of overweight and related health problems including diabetes and heart disease.
