CALGARY — When it comes to nutritional value, many food products targeted at babies and toddlers are so sweet, they’re sour.

Research out of the University of Calgary and funded by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest Canada shows more than half of the food products studied are of poor nutritional quality.

Charlene Elliott, an associate professor of communications studies, said established guidelines suggest food is unhealthy if more than 20% of the calories in it are derived from sugar. But she found that 53% of the foods she studied met that criteria.

“In a childhood obesity epidemic, you have to wonder why food manufacturers would be promoting highly-sugared foods to young children,” she said.

“Certainly, babies do not demand salt or sugar in their foods.”

The study looked at 186 products, including pureed dinners, toddler entrees, fruit snacks, cereal bars, yogurt, snack bars and desserts.

It did not include simple fruit and vegetable purees, juice or formula designed to be mixed with breast milk or water.

Elliott said one of her biggest concerns is that babies are eating dessert as part of their meals.

“How have we got to the point where feeding your baby desserts is acceptable? Ten years ago, that wouldn’t be the case,” she said.

The study showed 40% of the products studied listed sugar — or some variant of it, such as corn syrup or dextrose — in the first four ingredients on the nutritional label, while 19% listed it as either the first or second ingredient.

Elliott said parents often overlook the nutritional value of the food their children are eating, assuming it will be healthy in what she calls a halo effect.

“Parents reasonably assume it would be held to a higher nutritional standard and they often let their guard down,” she said.

However, the baby and toddler foods studied weren’t any better than their adult counterparts in terms of sugar, and in fact, some were worse.

Elliott’s study is published in the advanced online version of The Journal of Public Health.

Related posts:

1. Massive prenatal study seeks pregnant Albertans
2. Health o Meter HDC100-01 “Grow with Me” Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
3. Internal tagging system could help track food that's been tampered with: prof
4. How to Make Easy No-Cook Baby Food: Bananas or Avocados
5. Israeli study suggests Mozart's music may help speed up weight gain in premature babies