High sugar content in baby food: an Indian perspective

Abstract

The Editorial1 in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology clearly portrays the negative health effects of sugar-rich baby foods in Europe, especially in the UK. In India, the scenario is not much different, in fact, it is rather worse. In the past two decades, childhood obesity and its associated comorbidities have emerged as a huge burden on the country's health. Presently, India is home to the second highest number of obese children in the world.2 Apart from the factors listed in the Editorial,1 the increase in childhood obesity in India can be attributed to rapid unplanned urbanisation and transitions in the socioeconomic status of parents, due to climate change, depletion of natural resources, poor agricultural outcomes, and unemployment.3 These factors have led to the migration of the population from rural to urban areas and consequently, a drastic shift in food habits, from simple traditional food to readily available processed foods and sugar-containing drinks. The present nutritional status of India leads to two problems—food insecurity and malnutrition with their associated complexities4 and an alarming rise in childhood obesity. Such poor nutritional status in early life eventually precipitates into metabolic syndrome in adulthood. In the absence of stringent regulatory policies, the sugar content of processed foods, including so-called health drinks for pregnant and lactating mothers, is quite high. Instant foods for babies aged 6 months and older are loaded with sugar. Similarly, sugary health drinks for children are marketed tactfully as promising to boost growth and strength. Surprisingly, these products come from companies of international repute that have dedicated nutrition research and development branches. It is intriguing how a problem as grave as childhood obesity is still being overlooked to increase the palatability and sales of instant baby foods and health drinks. Furthermore, the problem of perinatal programming of obesity and diabetes, due to the consumption of high sugar-containing health drinks during pregnancy and lactation, also remains hidden. Although a UN report3 warns that the 2030 sustainable development goals are possibly insurmountable, it is still not too late to adopt a more responsible stance to provide healthy nutrition in early life for a healthier population in the future. Strict regulatory mandates limiting the sugar content in instant baby foods and health drinks need to be implemented by the government, following WHO guidelines.5 Given that India is a nation with a substantially higher burden of type 2 diabetes than the rest of the world, there is an urgent need to be careful and strict in choosing healthy baby foods and restricting sugar intake in pregnancy and lactation. India needs to set both short-term and long-term goals and work judiciously towards them to curb the severe health effects caused by food insecurity, malnutrition, and childhood obesity.