Most Australian baby and toddler foods fail to meet international nutritional guidelines while featuring dodgy health claims in their marketing.
More than three-quarters of the 309 food products featured in a newly released study from The George Institute for Global Health failed on overall nutritional requirements, often because they had too much sugar in them.
None of the products studied met the World Health Organisation's (WHO) standards about prohibited claims, which include marketing based on statements such as having no added sugar, being organic or free from colours and flavours.
Australia and New Zealand's food ministers met in July and launched a public consultation on improving commercial foods for infants and children after a spike in chronic obesity-related diseases.
But the lead author of the study, published on Tuesday in the journal Maternal and Child Nutrition, said much of that disease could be traced to kids eating high-sugar foods at young ages and developing a sweet tooth for later in life.
"Time-poor parents are looking for convenience, but most would be shocked by industry's deceptive marketing tactics suggesting products are healthier than they are, that are rife across this category," Elizabeth Dunford said.
"They would probably also be surprised to know that regulatory safeguards to protect children from exposure to unhealthy food marketing are currently very limited."
Pouches - the most popular infant and toddler food market in Australia - featured the highest use of prohibited claims, while only half met the WHO's total sugar requirements.
The finding was backed up by other research suggesting pouches contained more sugar than other products in the six-to-36 months food market, the George Institute study said.
Given sugar's links to obesity and related ailments including diabetes, heart disease and cancers, policy-makers should set limits on how much could be included in such products, the researchers said.
Other regulatory options include restricting the amount of claims allowed to be made on each package.
"We know these claims and messages influence what parents buy for infants and toddlers in the critical early years … the food industry is essentially setting the foundations for unhealthy eating later in life and this situation urgently requires regulation," George Institute dietitian Daisy Coyle said.
"We'd want to see a more comprehensive approach to addressing key drivers of chronic disease from infancy … the long-term health of future generations depends on it."
