A British study warned of the risk of highly treated foods for children, stressing that it paves the way to adopt unhealthy eating habits that lead to obesity and tooth decay from an early age.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Leeds, revealed that about a third of the food products designated for infants and young children (31%) are classified within the category of “UPFS” foods, which are foods produced in large quantities and contain industrial ingredients and multiple additions, and have been proven related to many chronic health problems.
The research team examined 632 leading brands such as ELLA’s Kitchen and Heinz, which included snacks, breakfast pills, chant bags and food jars. The results showed that some of these products derive up to 89% of their calories of sugar.
Although some products are not classified within the UPFS category, such as fruits, and do not contain added sugar, they remain rich in “free” sugars resulting from fruits, which makes it a great source of sugar. Indeed, the researchers found that, on average, the researchers contained the snacks of the snacks that are in average sugar in the Digestiv biscuit for adults.
In light of these results, government nutritionists called for strict measures, including imposing restrictions on manufacturing and marketing these products, and even offering the idea of banning sugars to foods for children.
Catherine Jenner, director of the “Obesity Health Alliance”, warned that store shelves are full of processing and sugar -full products that are marketed as healthy options, which misleads parents and undermines their efforts to protect the health of their children. She said: “These products prepare children for unbalanced eating habits, lead to obesity and tooth decay, and frustrate the intentions of parents who seek to provide the best.”
Dr. Diane Threeblton, the main researcher in the study, stressed that there is a wide spread of products such as sweets, breakfast pills and children’s meals in the corridors dedicated to young food, and often marketed as “organic” or “free of added sugar”, while they contain ingredients subject to treatment that are not compatible with the nutritional needs of children in their early stages.
She added that these foods create in children an early desire to eat sugar, which threatens their health in the long run, and called on the government to intervene.
