Babies exposed to high sugar diet

Babies are being weaned into a high sugar diet from as young as 4 months old, a leading child health and obesity expert is warning.

A paper prepared by FIZZ (Fighting Sugar in Soft Drinks) for the New Zealand Medical Journal has found some commercial baby foods sold in New Zealand supermarkets contained up to four teaspoons of sugar per serve.

Of 33 single-serve Heinz Wattie’s baby foods stocked at an Auckland supermarket, 22 had more than two teaspoons of sugar in them. Of those, 11 contained two to three teaspoons of sugar, 10 contained between three and four teaspoons and one contained four teaspoons. A singleserve 120g pouch of apple, peach and mango fruit puree contained 16g of sugar — four teaspoons.

The recommended intake of sugar in infants was no more than 5 per cent of energy — less than two teaspoons per day for an average 6-month-old, FIZZ said. Less than 3 per cent energy was recommended to prevent dental cavities.

FIZZ founder Dr Gerhard Sundborn, of the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health, said commercial baby foods that were high in sugar could cause as much risk of obesity and tooth decay as sugary drinks.

The Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation recommended babies be breastfed to 6 months old but these foods were being advertised for 4-month-olds, he said.

“We are concerned that infants from 4 months of age are exposed to foods high in concentrated sugar as their first foods,” he said.

“Some of the health impacts will be that these infants and babies will develop a palate for sweetness. It will have an impact on their baby teeth that are emerging. It is likely going to have a significant impact on their behaviour.”

Sundborn said savoury baby foods, especially made at home, were best because they had less sugar. Store-bought fruit purees had a higher level of sugar than the fruit itself because the water and fibre were removed so it was more concentrated.

But Heinz Wattie’s stressed it was naturally occurring sugar.

“Most fruit and some vegetables —including some first fruit and vegetables recommended by the Ministry of Health — have naturally occurring sugar levels higher than 5g/100g and it would not be sensible to have these ‘health warnings’.”

Sundborn said another major concern was that the whole Heinz Wattie’s range was endorsed by Plunket on the packaging.

Sundborn said he would like to see the New Zealand Ministry of Health establish an Infant Nutrition Advisory Group to prepare guidance about the ingredients of baby foods.

Heinz Wattie’s said the company had independent nutritionists advising them on baby food and the advisory group included leading New Zealand experts in child health and nutrition.

Plunket chief executive Amanda Malu said the baby foods that carried the Plunket brand met nutritional guidelines “and we stand by those guidelines”.