Abstract
Objective: To characterize the prevalence of hyperpalatable foods (HPF) among baby foods in the U.S. and examine the prevalence of HPF exposure and consumption from both baby food and adult food sources among infants aged 9–15 months.Methods: A U.S. baby food database as well as baby foods from three 24-h dietary recalls of 147 infants were used to identify baby foods as HPF per previous publication. HPF exposure was defined as intake of any HPF during the 3-day measurement period. To determine the extent of HFP consumption, % kilocalorie (kcal) intake from HPF was characterized.Results: Only 12% of baby foods were HPF; however, nearly all participants (>90%) consumed HPF, primarily through exposure to adult foods. Younger infants (<12 months) consumed 38% [standard deviation (SD) = 23.6%] of their daily food kcal from HPF and older infants (≥12 months) consumed 52% (SD = 16.4%) of daily food kilocalorie from HPF. Most younger infants (68%) and older infants (88%) had repeated exposure to the same HPF across the measurement period.Conclusions: The prevalence of HPF among baby foods in the U.S. is low. However, almost all infants were exposed to HPF, and HPF comprised a substantial percentage of daily food kilocalorie in infants' diets. Findings highlight the transition to solid food consumption during complimentary feeding period is a critical time for early HPF exposure.
Highlights
Infancy is a sensitive developmental period and the most formative time for developing eating habits and food preferences that support growth needs
Maier et al found that repeated exposure to a disliked vegetable (8 times in 16 days) early in the complementary feeding period resulted in intakes that were four-fold greater than the amounts the infants initially consumed (Maier et al, 2007)
The study sought to characterize the prevalence of hyperpalatable foods (HPF) among baby foods available in the U.S food system, and to determine the degree to which infants are exposed to HPF within the first 15 months of life, a critical period for the development of food preferences and eating habits
Summary
Infancy is a sensitive developmental period and the most formative time for developing eating habits and food preferences that support growth needs. To this end, several investigations have shown that during the first year of life, food preferences are learned through repeated exposure to new foods (Schwartz et al, 2011; Nicklaus and Remy, 2013; Birch and Doub, 2014; Nicklaus, 2016). Exposure to HPF may adversely affect the establishment of food preferences and drive infants to consume HPF, thereby heightening the risk of later obesity (Poti et al, 2017)
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