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Frequent Use of Baby Food Pouches in Infants and Young Children and Associations with Energy Intake and BMI: An Observational Study

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posted on 2025-02-10, 04:45 authored by Neve H McLean, Bailey R Bruckner, Anne-Louise M Heath, Jillian J Haszard, Lisa Daniels, Cathryn A Conlon, Pamela R von Hurst, Kathryn L Beck, LA Te Morenga, Ridvan Firestone, Jenny McArthur, Rebecca Paul, Alice M Cox, Emily A Jones, Ioanna Katiforis, Kimberley J Brown, Maria Casale, Rosario M Jupiterwala, Madeleine M Rowan, Andrea Wei, Louise J Fangupo, Megan Healey, Veisinia Pulu, Tia Neha, Rachael W Taylor
Objective: Most wet commercial infant foods are now sold in squeezable ‘pouches’. While multiple expert groups have expressed concern about their use, it is not known how commonly they are consumed and whether they impact energy intake or body mass index (BMI). The objectives were to describe pouch use, and determine associations with energy intake and BMI, in infants and young children. Methods: In this observational cross-sectional study of 933 young New Zealand children (6.0 months–3.9 years), pouch use was assessed by a questionnaire (‘frequent’ use was consuming food from a baby food pouch ≥5 times/week in the past month), usual energy intake using two 24-h recalls, and BMI z-score calculated using World Health Organization standards. Results: The sample broadly represented the wider population (27.1% high socioeconomic deprivation, 22.5% Māori). Frequent pouch use declined with age (infants 27%, toddlers 16%, preschoolers 8%). Few children were both frequent pouch users and regularly used the nozzle (infants 5%, toddlers 13%, preschoolers 8%). Preschoolers who were frequent pouch users consumed significantly less energy than non-users (−580 kJ [−1094, −67]), but infants (115 [−35, 265]) and toddlers (−206 [−789, 378]) did not appear to have a different energy intake than non-users. There were no statistically significant differences in the BMI z-score by pouch use. Conclusions: These results do not support the strong concerns expressed about their use, particularly given the lack of evidence for higher energy intake or BMI.

History

Journal

Nutrients

Volume

16

Article number

3165

Pagination

1-13

Location

Basel, Switzerland

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

2072-6643

eISSN

2072-6643

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

18

Publisher

MDPI