Baby foods and drinks have been found to have high amounts of sugar. Health organizations recently released information on what to give your baby and toddler to drink during the first few years of its life. Young infants should be getting breast milk or formula, no other juice, water, milk, or “toddler milks” are needed. These recommendations come from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Heart Association.

Drinks for babies aren’t the only problem. As babies get older, companies are targeting them for all sorts of new foods. Children 3-36 months are the targets of many new “foods” for babies, including dietary supplements, squeeze containers of food, puffs, and drinks.  The majority of these new foods are sugar filled and targeted at parents who are focused on convenience. The marketing of these products is also incessant and labelling is often confusing.

Doctors and health groups are speaking out against all of the sugar. Pediatrician Dr. Natalie Muth said of the study, which she was not involved in, “Added sugars increase the risk of many health harms including type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart disease and childhood obesity. Labels on drinks are confusing and misleading, causing parents to think they are providing their children a healthy drink when in actuality they are not.”

A 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee found that 29% of toddler calories came from snacks, including those with excess sugar. Almost 14% of 2-5 year olds are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The government does not have guidelines for daily sugar limits for children younger than 2. The limits for children 2-18 is 25 grams daily. 35% of conventional baby foods in the United States had more than 10 grams of sugar in a 4 ounce serving.

National health and nutrition organizations called for the government to put policy and guidelines together to limit sugar in beverages and food.

Read more about how toxic metals are found in 95% of baby foods on the market and other scary ingredients in commercial baby food. And learn more about organic baby foods, how to make your own healthy plant-based baby food at home!

Also, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App on iTunes — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy!

For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter!

Lastly, being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!