Nutritional quality evaluation of complementary baby food products in Korea according to food composition / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nutritional quality of complementary baby food products sold in Korea according to the baby food stages and food composition. @*Methods@#A total of 1,587 complementary food products sold online and offline between March and December 2021 were investigated. They ranged from liquid meals to solid rice for babies aged 5 to 36 months. @*Results@#The number of intakes per packaged volume was 2.8 in Stage 1, 1.9 in Stage 2, 1.4 in Stage 3, and 1.1 in Stage 4 (p < 0.0001). The dietary variety scores (DVS) of the complementary baby food products were 3.4 in Stage 1, 5.5 in Stage 2, 7.1 in Stage 3, and 9.7 in Stage 4 (p < 0.0001) and showed a significant increase in the later stages. The Korean dietary diversity score (KDDS) significantly increased from 2.3 in Stage 1, to 2.8 in Stage 2, 3.0 in Stage 3, and 3.4 in Stage 4 (p < 0.0001). The higher the baby food stage, the higher the proportion of grains/meat/vegetable ingredients. The ratio of protein intake to Adequate Intake (AI) or Recommended Nutrition Intake (RNI) was higher in products with a KDDS of 3 points or more, or in products with 2 points or fewer in Stages 1 and 2 (p < 0.0001, respectively). The ratio of protein intake to RNI increased as the KDDS score increased in Stages 3 and 4 (p < 0.0001, respectively). For all stages of baby foods, the ratio of protein intake to AI or RNI was high in products that included the meat group (beans, nuts, meat, eggs, fish, and shellfish) (p < 0.0001, respectively). @*Conclusion@#Continuous research and nutritional evaluation are required for establishing nutrient content standards for commercially available baby foods, considering breast milk intake.