Retail Food Environments for Australian Toddlers - Analysis, Perceptions and Regulation

A healthy diet is important for optimal growth and development in the early years of life. The retail food environment that young children and their parents are exposed to plays a role in health outcomes, with evidence demonstrating that retail food environments (including foods and milks) for toddlers (aged 12-36 months) in Australia are non-health promoting. There has been an increase in availability and diversity of products marketed for toddlers, many of which are ultra-processed (UP) and carry on-pack marketing portrayed in ways that mislead and deceive consumers and make it difficult to accurately determine the products healthiness. Evidence shows a high consumption of UP foods in the toddler age group, contributing to negative health outcomes in later years, such as overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Due to the lack of regulation for toddler foods, and weak ‘loophole’ regulation for toddler milks in Australia, these products are being portrayed as everyday ‘healthy’ foods. In addition, they are much more expensive than regular family foods, as well as nutritionally inadequate. With research reporting that toddlers are not eating in accordance with dietary recommendations, including eating too much UP and non-core foods, action is imperative to improve the retail food environments toddlers are exposed to and therefore their diets.