Added Sugar Intake from Infant Formula and Complementary Foods: A Longitudinal Investigation and Implications for...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Nutrition
• Infant Health
• Dietary Intake Analysis

Background:

• National guidelines advise against added sugars for infants.
• Infant formula commonly contains added sugars, contradicting these recommendations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify average daily added sugar intake from infant formula and complementary foods.
• To investigate the relationship between added sugar consumption from formula/complementary foods and infant weight status in low-income households.

Main Methods:

• Recruited mother-infant dyads from a pediatric clinic serving Medicaid recipients (August 2019-November 2021).
• Conducted 24-hour feeding recalls for infants at 6, 9, and 12 months of age.
• Calculated weight-for-age and weight-for-length z-scores; employed multilevel linear growth modeling.

Main Results:

• Formula was the primary source of added sugar (33g/day) compared to complementary foods (7g/day) at 6 and 9 months.
• Formula-fed infants had significantly higher daily caloric intake from added sugar (P=0.034).
• Each 10g/day increase in formula's added sugar correlated with a 0.060 increase in weight-for-length z-scores (P=0.001).

Conclusions:

• Infant formula significantly contributes to infants' added sugar consumption.
• A positive association exists between added sugar from formula and infant weight gain.
• Regulations limiting added sugar in infant formula and clear labeling are warranted.