Patterns of sugar consumption in early infancy

Abstract

A study is described in which patterns of sugar consumption in early infancy have been investigated in a rural area in Britain. A representative group of 94 mothers of first babies aged 8-11 months answered questions on the introduction of various foods and drinks containing sugar to their babies' diet. A diet sheet was completed in order to estimate the frequency of sugar consumption on the previous day for both the mother and her child. The findings show that babies received sweet items on an average of 4.3 separate occasions and that 77% of the meals and snacks given to babies contained sugar. The study describes some of the specific ways which sugar is first introduced and concludes that the frequency of sugar consumption is high, even in the 1st year of life.