Because so many parents do not prepare home-cooked meal, instead relying on microwavable frozen entrees, take-out food, and ready-to-eat products from a box or can, the toddler food market has responded to this trend. The result has been toddler dinners, toddler yogurts, junior desserts, toddler snacks, and other processed choices for parents to toss into their food baskets.
But are they healthy choices?
Parents need to be educated, cautious supermarket shoppers. When it comes to sodium, for example, more than 12 percent of the products evaluated had moderate to high levels of sodium.
Of greater concern than the products with high sodium content are those with too much sugar. The researchers found that 53 percent of the products assessed derived more than 20 percent of their calories from sugar. Among them were pureed baby food desserts (87% contained high sugar), cookies and teething biscuits (24% high sugar), fruit snacks and yogurt products (100% high sugar), and cereals (76% high sugar). Forty percent of the foods listed sugar (e.g., corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose, fructose, cane syrup) among the first four ingredients on their labels, and 36 products listed sugar as either the first or second ingredient.
The study lists the amount of sugar found in the evaluated food products. Some of the fruit snacks and desserts, which contain naturally occurring fruit sugars, also had added sugars. Gerber’s Fruit Medley Dessert, for example, contains natural fruit plus added sugars, which results in a product that derives 75 percent of calories from sugar. Gerber’s Graduates for Toddlers Juice Treats Fruit Snacks derive just less than 70 percent of their calories from sugar, with corn syrup and sugar as the first two ingredients listed.
Parents need to read product labels carefully for sodium and salt content when buying food for their toddlers.
Source and thanks to www.emaxhealth.com.
