The Comparative Analysis of Chemical Contamination of Food and Children's Health Indices in the Russian Federation

Abstract

Introduction. Maintaining health of the younger generation is one of the priority activities of Rospotrebnadzor bodies and governmental policy. Environmental factors, including chemical contamination of food, play an important role in health preservation. A constant intake of contaminants, even in small concentrations, causes malfunctioning of body organs and systems. Our objective was a comparative analysis of relationship between baby food contamination and disease incidence in children. Materials and methods. We analyzed data of the Federal information Fund of Social and Hygienic Monitoring of the Russian Federation. Results. The analysis of chemical contamination of baby food established that the main food toxicants included lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury. The contamination data in the areas were compared with disease incidence rates in the child population. We did a comparative analysis of contamination of food products intended for children aged 0 to 14 and changes in disease incidence rates in children of the same age in the Russian Federation in 2012–2017. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were measured in fruit and vegetable products used as first baby food by most mothers. We found a relationship between toxic elements in baby food and cancer incidence rates in children aged 0 to 14 (r = 0.27; p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion. Measures taken to reduce baby food contamination with chemicals will contribute to prevention and a decrease in disease incidence rates in children.