IT’S hardly surprising teens are getting the majority of their calories from ultra-processed foods (UFPs) – two-thirds to be exact.
Adults aren’t much better, with half the average diet composed of UPFs.
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What is shocking is that toddlers in the UK obtain nearly half (47 per cent) of their calories from UPFs.
News alarming enough to prompt a Pringle’s binge, perhaps.
The study, published by researchers from University College London (UCL), found this rises to 59 per cent by the age of seven.
Experts said that eating patterns in early years can start habits which continue into adulthood.
They said that “it is not easy” to feed children healthily when highly processed foods are often cheaper than fruit and vegetables.
UPFs marketed for children often contain excessive amounts of salt and sugar, researchers said.
“It has been suggested that the hyperpalatable nature of some UPF may partly drive continued consumption of these foods, which goes beyond habit formation,” the authors wrote.
UFPs are also often high in fat and sugar and low in fibre, which raises the risk of weight gain.
They include tasty and convenient fizzy drinks, pre-packed snacks like crisps and biscuits, breakfast cereals and ready meals.
Previous research has linked them to cancers, anxiety, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The team also highlighted foods which “mimic” UPFs, but aren’t actually classed as such – including vegetable puffs or snacks resembling cookies.
Early exposure to these foods is unlikely to encourage consumption of vegetables, the researchers added.
Academics looked at data from children born in the UK in 2007 and 2008 whose parents recorded what their children ate and drank over three days.
It’s not easy to feed children healthily in our current food environment. Highly processed foods are often cheaper than the foods parents would like to give their children, such as fresh fruit and vegetables.
Dr Rana Conway
The most common UPFs eaten by toddlers aged 21 months were flavoured yoghurts and wholegrain breakfast cereals.
Among seven-year-olds, the most common UPFs were sweet cereals, white bread and puddings, according to the study which has been published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
At both ages, UPF consumption was linked to consuming more sugar and salt, according to data taken from 2,591 toddlers taking part in the UK Gemini twin study and 592 of these children when they were aged seven.
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Healthy snacks for toddlers
In most cases, your children will be hankering for foods that are maybe not so healthy: crisps, sugar-packed ice lollies, fizzy drinks and slushies.
If you’re looking for some healthier options to satisfy their cravings, you need look no further.
Registered nutritionist and Sunday Times best-selling author of The Science of Nutrition, Rhiannon Lambert, shared her favourites.
1. Chopped fruit and yoghurt
Some fruit and yoghurt make for a yummy but refreshing snack for kids.
“Why not use bananas, grapes, berries, orange segments, and green apples to to dip into a creamy yoghurt pot,” the nutritionist said.
Be sure to chop the fruit – including the grapes and berries – into small pieces if you little one is under five.
From very young tots consider mashing the fruit to make it easier to swallow and always check for pips and stones beforehand.
Make sure to use plain yoghurt, which is usually unprocessed or minimally processed – meaning they have been altered in ways which doesn’t change their nutritional goodness.
3. Egg muffins
Rhiannon suggested egg muffins as super simple, quick yet healthy and balanced snack for on-the-go.
“You can whip these up in 15 mins and use a variety of veggies such as peppers, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli or corn, packing in those all important plant points to help improve gut health, as well as protein and essential vitamins and minerals too,” she said.
4. Homemade carrot cake oat bars
Finally, Rhiannon suggested you whip up some carrot cake oat bars.
These might be another one you can get your kids involved in.
“Plus they don’t have any added sugar and use mashed bananas to hold the bars together,” the nutritionist added.
“Add in rolled oats for some extra nutrition such as soluble fibre and B vitamins, as well as some bright, sweet carrots for vitamin A too.”
This is one way to incorporate a healthy cereal into your child’s diet. As not all wholegrain cereals are ultraprocessed.
Plain oats, corn flakes and shredded wheat are minimally processed
Intake of UPFs in toddlerhood was predictive of consumption levels at age seven – researchers found that toddlers who consumed the most UPFs were 9.4 times more likely to be in the highest UPF-consuming group at age seven, compared to toddlers who consumed the lowest proportion.
Seven-year-olds who ate higher levels of UPFs were found to consume less fibre.
UPF intakes were estimated using diet diaries and Nova classification – a system widely used to determine food processing.
The researchers called for policies to “redress the balance of children’s diets toward a lower proportion of UPF, such as adding warning labels to products, inclusive school food policies and subsidies on fresh and minimally processed food”.
Foods marketed for children often contain too much sugar and salt
Dr Rana Conway
Lead author Dr Rana Conway, of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: “Ultra-processed foods are not all bad for our health and the foods typically eaten by the toddlers in our study are ones that are seen as quite healthy.
“However, some wholegrain cereals and flavoured yoghurts have high levels of added sugar and salt and our study found that toddlers who consumed more ultra-processed foods also had a higher intake of these ingredients.
“This is concerning, especially as toddlers, in general, consume more added sugar and salt than is recommended.
“Aside from sugar and salt, a diet that includes a lot of ultra-processed food is less likely to get children used to the natural flavours of whole foods and therefore less likely to encourage healthy eating later in life.
“It’s not easy to feed children healthily in our current food environment. Highly processed foods are often cheaper than the foods parents would like to give their children, such as fresh fruit and vegetables.
“Also, despite labels suggesting they’re a healthy choice, ultra-processed foods marketed for children often contain too much sugar and salt.
“This makes it harder for parents to make healthy choices.”
Senior author, Professor Clare Llewellyn, of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, added: “Eating patterns in the early years are important, as they help set habits that can persist through childhood and into adulthood.
“This was reflected in our findings, with 21-month-olds who ate more ultra-processed foods also likely to be higher consumers of ultra-processed foods at the age of seven.”