Food Sources of Energy and Nutrients in Infants, Toddlers, and Young Children from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012

Abstract

Food sources of nutrients in Mexican children are not well known. To fill the knowledge gap, dietary intake was assessed in 2057 children using a 24-h dietary recall. All reported foods and beverages were assigned to one of 76 food groups. Percent contribution of each food group to nutrient intake was estimated for four age groups: 0–5.9, 6–11.9, 12–23.9, and 24–47.9 months. Breast milk, infant formula, and cow’s milk were the top sources of energy and nutrients, especially in younger groups. Among infants aged 6–11.9 months, the top food sources of energy included soups and stews, cookies, fruit, tortillas, eggs and egg dishes, and traditional beverages. The same foods plus sweetened breads, dried beans, and sandwiches and tortas were consumed as the top sources of energy among toddlers and young children. Milk, soups, and stews were the top contributors for all nutrients and tortillas, eggs, and egg dishes were among the top contributors for iron and zinc. This study showed that low nutrient-dense cookies, sweetened breads, and traditional beverages were among the core foods consumed early in life in Mexico. This compromises the intake of more nutritious foods such as vegetables and fortified cereals and increases the risk of obesity.

Energy intake from unhealthy snack food/beverage among 12‐23‐month‐old children in urban Nepal

“…It is comparable with the %TEI from USFB among 12–23 month olds reported in other low‐income and middle‐income settings, which range from 9% to 40%, with a median of 19% (Anderson, Cornwall, Jack, & Gibson, ; Denney, Afeiche, Eldridge, & Villalpando‐Carrión, ; Jeharsae, Sangthong, & Chongsuvivatwong, ; Karnopp et al, ; Kavle et al, ; Lander et al, ; Roche, Creed‐Kanashiro, Tuesta, & Kuhlein, ; Rodríguez‐Ramírez, Muñoz‐Espinosa, Rivera, González‐Castell, & González de Cosío, ; Valmórbida & Vitolo, ), and is also comparable with toddlers and school‐age children in high‐income settings (Kant, ; Webb et al, ). The higher %TEI‐NBF from USFB among 18–23 month olds as compared with 12–17 month olds observed in this study is consistent with intakes reported in high‐income settings (Hamner, Perrine, Gupta, Herrick, & Cogswell, ) and general trends of increased USFB consumption with age in LMIC settings (Denney et al, ; Lander et al, ), including Nepal (Pries et al, ). This relationship likely relates to introduction of new foods/flavours and incorporation of family foods into the diet as a child ages.…”

Snack food and beverage consumption and young child nutrition in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

“…Four studies presented differences in % TEI from snacks/SSB across age groups, with most showing an increase in % TEI from such foods among older children. Across the entire complementary feeding period, Lander et al () and Denney et al () found that % TEI from snack foods and SSB increased with age (27.0% among 6‐ to 8‐month‐olds vs. 35.0% among 9‐ to 11‐month‐olds vs. 40.0% among 12‐ to 23‐month‐olds; and 8.0% among 6‐ to 11‐month‐olds vs. 19.6% among 12‐ to 23‐month‐olds, respectively). However, a decrease in % TEI from processed snack foods/SBB with age was shown by Kavle et al () in rural and periurban Egypt.…”

“…Limitations in study design, particularly related to sampling and measurement, challenge the ability to draw conclusions across papers identified in this review. Among the nine studies assessing % TEI from snack foods/SSB, only two provided nationally representative estimates, both from Mexico (Denney et al, ; Rodríguez‐Ramírez et al, ). Three of the remaining studies assessed nonrandom samples, including convenience samples of stunted children and mothers attending health services (Anderson et al, ; Roche et al, ; Valmórbida & Vitolo, ), limiting conclusions from these papers to wider populations.…”

“…The reported % TEI ranged from 13.1% among 0-to 23-montholds in the Amazonas district of Peru (Roche, Creed-Kanashiro, Tuesta, & Kuhlein, 2011) to 38.2% among 12-to 23-month-olds in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Anderson, Cornwall, Jack, & Gibson, 2008), with a median of 19.3% TEI across all nine studies. Five studies assessed dietary energy contribution from both snack foods and SSB (Denney, Afeiche, Eldridge, & Villalpando-Carrión, 2017;Karnopp et al, 2017;Kavle et al, 2015;Rodríguez-Ramírez, Muñoz-Espinosa, Rivera, González-Castell, & González de Cosío, 2016;Valmórbida & Vitolo, 2014). Four studies did not specifically indicate if they assessed contributions from SSB in addition to snack foods (Anderson et al, 2008;Jeharsae, Sangthong, & Chongsuvivatwong, 2011;Lander et al, 2010;Roche et al, 2011).…”

“…Four studies presented differences in % TEI from snacks/SSB across age groups, with most showing an increase in % TEI from such foods among older children. Across the entire complementary feeding period, Lander et al (2010) and Denney et al (2017) found that % TEI from snack foods and SSB increased with age (27.0% among 6-to 8month-olds vs. 35.0% among 9-to 11-month-olds vs. 40.0% among 12-to 23-month-olds; and 8.0% among 6-to 11-month-olds vs.…”