Abstract
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.
Highlights
A “nutrition transition” has been identified in many low‐ and middle‐ income countries (LMIC), with diets increasing in added sugars, fats, and refined carbohydrates (Popkin, Adair, & Ng, 2012)
Packaged foods, including beverages such as juice drinks and chocolate/malt powder‐based drinks and foods such as instant noodles, candies, chocolates, savoury snacks, and biscuits, were consistently mentioned as khaja (Nepali word for “snack”) for children across all groups, in addition to home‐made foods such as jaulo, milk, lito, dal bhat, boiled eggs, and fruits
For both commercial and non‐ commercial foods, several caregivers reported minimal differences in foods fed as khana (Nepali word for the “main meals”) and khaja for young children; lito, jaulo, and dal bhat were given as both meals and snacks to young children
Summary
A “nutrition transition” has been identified in many low‐ and middle‐ income countries (LMIC), with diets increasing in added sugars, fats, and refined carbohydrates (Popkin, Adair, & Ng, 2012). Over one quarter of women in urban Nepal are overweight/obese (MOHP New ERA and ICF DHS Program, 2017), and overnutrition affects 40 million children globally, with the majority of these children living in LMIC (World Health Organization, 2011) In a context such as urban Nepal, understanding the drivers behind caregivers' decisions to use commercial snack foods and beverages for young child feeding could lead to insights on how to mitigate increasing consumption rates and to prevent overweight/obesity in adulthood. This study assessed a sample of Kathmandu Valley caregivers' perceptions of commercial snack foods and beverages and elucidated factors that influence their use for child feeding
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