Nine in ten toddler foods are failing to meet international nutritional standards.
That's according to a new report by Cancer Council Victoria, which assessed 250 baby and toddler food products, and found two thirds of the foods in Victorian supermarkets fail to meet several nutrition recommendations by the World Health Organisation's European office.
This includes no sugar or sweetening products in baby and toddler foods, as well as requiring less than 15 per cent of energy from total sugars.
Jane Martin is the Executive Manager at the Obesity Policy Coalition and says it's deeply concerning that there are currently no regulations on sodium for toddler foods.
"The worst offender was toddler foods, 9 out of 10 didn't meet these recommendations. The key kind of areas of concern were around sodium, and sugars and sweeteners in these products for baby and for toddler foods. The sugars and sweeteners were an issue in both those categories. So, almost 90 per cent of these packaged foods didn't meet the recommendations around sugar and sweeteners."
The W-H-O guidelines examine if the energy intake in foods for toddlers exceed what is required for their age category.
The consumption of foods with high energy or excessive sugars also have long-term health impacts into adulthood.
Dr Catherine Fleming is a lecturer in Public Health at Western Sydney University, and has a background in paediatric nutrition diatetics.
"Particularly in young children, if there's high consumption of what we call ultra-processed foods, which are generally foods high in sugars, fat and salt, and particularly the sugar component as well, that does have a correlation with obesity, both in childhood and into adulthood. And that's the other really important thing to remember as well, what children are eating in this toddler, is a footprint for what their long-term health impacts for them and eating long-term as well."
