High consumption of commercial food products among children less than 24 months of age and product promotion in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

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Child undernutrition continues to be a national concern in Indonesia, whereas childhood overweight/obesity rises. Economic development has led to wide availability of highly processed foods and beverages, with growing evidence that children are consuming commercial snack products during the critical complementary feeding period. This study assessed the prevalence and patterns of consumption of commercially produced snack foods and sugar‐sweetened beverages among Indonesian children. A cross‐sectional survey was conducted with 495 mothers of children aged 6–35 months living in Bandung City, Indonesia. Among all children, 81.6% consumed a commercial snack food and 40.0% consumed a sugar‐sweetened beverage in the day preceding the interview. At 6–11 months, 46.5% of children consumed a snack food and 2.0% consumed a sugar‐sweetened beverage. Snack foods were consumed 3 or more times a day by 60.0% of children 24–35 months of age. Sweet biscuits and savory snacks were the most commonly consumed snack foods; sweetened milks and sweetened teas were the most common beverages. Maternal education, child age, and consumption of a commercially produced complementary food were associated with snack food consumption. Factors associated with sugar‐sweetened beverage consumption were child age and consumption of a commercially produced complementary food or breastmilk substitute. These findings reflect a high presence of processed, high‐sugar/salt commercial snack products in the diets of children 6–35 months. National attention should focus on interventions to reduce reliance on processed snack products and increase consumption of nutrient‐rich, locally available foods during the complementary feeding period.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

High proportions of children under 3 years of age consume commercially produced snack foods and sugar‐sweetened beverages in Bandung City, Indonesia

Green

Hadihardjono

Pries

et al. 2019

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“…The influence of child preference on caregivers' use of snack food products for child feeding has been noted widely in literature across geographies (Almeida, Scagliusi, Duran, & Jaime, ; Angeles‐Agdeppa, Lana, & Barba, ; Babington & Patel, ; Feeley et al, ; Machín, Giménez, Curutchet, Martínez, and Ares (); Kavle et al, ; Pries, Huffman, Adhikary, et al, ; Pries, Huffman, Mengkheang, et al, ; Rahman et al, ; Verma & Punia, ; Vitta et al, ). Child preference was the most common reason reported by caregivers in this study; however, this response may serve as an initial catch‐all response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of commercial snack food and beverages for infant and young child feeding: A mixed‐methods study among caregivers in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Sharma

Ferguson

Upadhyay

et al. 2019

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Ensuring nutritious complementary feeding is vital for child nutrition. Prior research in Kathmandu Valley found high consumption rates of commercially produced snack foods among young children, which are often energy‐dense/nutrient poor. This mixed‐methods study was conducted to elicit Nepali caregivers' perceptions of commercial snack foods and beverages and factors influencing their use for young child feeding. Seven facilitated focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with Kathmandu Valley caregivers of children 12–23 months, and a survey of 745 primary caregivers of children 12–23 months of age was then conducted. During the FGD, caregivers reported commonly providing commercial food and beverage products to their children as snacks, and 98.6% of caregivers participating in the survey reported feeding their child such a food in the previous week. Because of processing and packaging, snack foods were not trusted by many FGD participants and considered as “junk foods” and not healthy for children. However, commercial snack foods were consistently ranked highly on convenience, both because of minimal preparation and ease of feeding; 48.5% of all surveyed caregivers reported providing a snack food because of convenience. Other family members' diets or provision of snack foods as treats also influenced children's consumption of these snack foods and beverages. This study indicates that caregivers of young children prefer snack options that are nutrient rich; however, this may conflict with preferences for foods that require minimal preparation and are appealing to young children. Such findings carry programmatic implications for interventions aiming to address children's diet quality in urban Nepal.

“…This research was part of a four‐country study assessing these issues in Cambodia, Nepal, Senegal and Tanzania (2016a, 2016b, 2016c, 2016d; Vitta et al . 2016; Champeny et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promotion and consumption of commercially produced foods among children: situation analysis in an urban setting in Senegal

Feeley¹,

Coly²,

Gueye³

et al. 2016

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This study assessed the promotion of commercially produced foods and consumption of these products by children less than 24 months of age in Dakar Department, Senegal. Interviews with 293 mothers of children attending child health clinics assessed maternal exposure to promotion and maternal recall of foods consumed by the child on the preceding day. Promotion of breastmilk substitutes and commercially produced complementary foods outside health facilities was common with 41.0% and 37.2% of mothers, respectively, reporting product promotions since the birth of their youngest child. Promotion of commercially produced snack food products was more prevalent, observed by 93.5% of mothers. While all mothers reported having breastfed their child, only 20.8% of mothers breastfed their newborn within the first hour after delivery, and 44.7% fed pre‐lacteal feeds in the first 3 days after delivery. Of children 6–23 months of age, 20.2% had consumed a breastmilk substitute; 49.1% ate a commercially produced complementary food, and 58.7% ate a commercially produced snack food product on the previous day. There is a need to stop the promotion of breastmilk substitutes, including infant formula, follow‐up formula, and growing‐up milks. More stringent regulations and enforcement could help to eliminate such promotion to the public through the media and in stores. Promotion of commercial snack foods is concerning, given the high rates of consumption of such foods by children under the age of 2 years. Efforts are needed to determine how best to reduce such promotion and encourage replacement of these products with more nutritious foods.