More Than 80% of Toddler Foods Are Ultra-Processed, Study Finds
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Read the Fine Print: Many parents assume foods marketed to toddlers must meet certain nutrition standards. But that fruit pouch or yogurt tube may not be as healthy as it seems, according to a new study led by the University of Texas at Austin.
The Study: During this grocery-store audit, researchers photographed toddler food sections at 21 Austin grocery stores and looked at 2,783 products aimed at kids six to 36 months old. They sorted everything using Nova, a system that ranks foods by how heavily processed they are. They also checked each product against World Health Organization nutrition guidelines (covering things like added sugar and sodium) for that age group. They concluded that a whopping 81% of products counted as ultra-processed, and almost half missed at least one nutrition guideline. And fruit pouches and mac and cheese were some of the worst offenders.
The Takeaway: Early childhood is when food habits begin forming, and UPFs have been tied to things like diabetes and obesity. So don’t forget to skim the nutrition label before throwing it in your cart.
Keep in Mind: Remember to treat these findings as preliminary because they were presented at a nutrition conference and haven’t gone through peer review.
