Public Consultation: Improving commercial foods for infants and young children
Additional Evidence and Information
Statement of the problem
The first 2000 days of a child’s life (from conception) is a critical time for development of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional health. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that early nutrition and lifestyle have long-term effects on later health and disease outcomes (referred to as developmental or metabolic programming). Supporting parents, guardians, carers and families to develop healthy habits during this stage of their child’s life can positively impact later life.
To ensure nutrient requirements of infants are met as they transition from breastmilk or infant formula, food based dietary guidelines recommend a range of foods are introduced. Infants and children consume smaller volumes of foods and have higher nutrient requirements relative to energy than adults. For example, a 7- to 12-month-old baby needs more iron than an adult male, but only one-third of the energy.
Despite the vulnerability of this population and the importance of nutrition in this critical period, there are limited regulations for the composition and nutritional quality of food for infants and foods aimed at young children.
There has been significant growth in commercial foods aimed at infants and young children. A recent survey of Australian parents found half of children (aged under 5 years) in Australia consume commercial foods for infants and young children every week, with 20% consuming them most days. The survey indicated that a significant proportion of parents believed infants and young children need different foods to regular family foods and half of parents incorrectly believed commercial foods are healthier than, or as healthy as, homemade foods (with tight regulation by government to ensure this is the case).
The nutritional quality of commercial foods for infants and young children do not support their developmental needs as these foods are often high in energy and/or sugar, and may not provide important nutrients such as iron.
Based on the above, the following problem statement has been developed:
"Commercial foods for infants and young children are poorly aligned with some aspects of the Australian and New Zealand Infant and Toddler Feeding Guidelines. These commercial foods are often high in sugar (infant and young child foods), sodium (young child foods) and either do not contain iron-rich ingredients or are too low in iron to make a claim (infant and young child foods). Labelling does not support carers to make informed choices for infants and young children due to product naming not always accurately reflecting ingredients. There are also concerns the texture of commercial infant foods typically do not match developmental progression in feeding".
Related information
The questions set out in the Consultation Paper 'Improving commercial foods for infants and young children' are presented in this online consultation survey.
Questions 1 to 4 seek to obtain information on any additional studies regarding the consumption, composition, and texture of commercial foods for infants and young children, as well as the prevalence of iron deficiency in Australia and New Zealand, that are not already mentioned in the Consultation Paper. Question 5 seeks information from Food Manufacturers regarding any activities that have been undertaken to improve commercial foods for infants and young children.