Abstract
Background: Intake of overconsumed nutrients (added sugar and sodium), fruit juice, and sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) during complementary feeding contributes to the development of obesity. The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend the avoidance of added sugar, sodium, SSB, toddler drinks, and plant-based milk (PBM) for children <2, and delayed introduction of cows milk, and fruit juice (< 4oz) until >12 months. Our objective was to estimate the percentage of children in violation of the DGA. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of 148 healthy infants/ toddlers (9-16 months). Participants were grouped as infants (9-<12 months) or toddlers (>12-16 months). Dietary intake was collected from caregiver reported three 24-hour dietary recalls. The mean and range of added sugar and sodium intake are reported. The percentage of infants/toddlers consuming SSB, toddler drinks, PBM, consuming cows milk, and fruit juice is reported. Results: Added sugar was consumed by all but 2 participants and accounted for an average 5.98% of their total energy (kcal). The average intake of added sugar was 13.63 g/d (range: 0-53.62 g). Sodium was consumed by all participants with an average intake of 852 mg/d (range: 107-2886 mg). SSB, toddler drinks, and PBM were consumed by 1.35%, 3.38%, and 4.05% of all infants/toddlers in our study. It is recommended infants avoid consuming cows milk and fruit juice during first year of life, but we observed 7.89% and 9.21% of participants were in violation of this recommendation. As for toddlers, 72.60% consumed cows milk, 15.07% consumed fruit juice, and 4.11% of toddlers consumed >4 oz. of fruit juice. Conclusions: Overall, infants/toddlers consumed high amounts of added sugar and sodium. Even though only a small percentage of them did not meet the DGA guidelines for beverage consumption, almost 25% of them consumed fruit juice.