subscribe to news Prodexpo 2020 hosts debate on child nutrition

11.02.2020

01/06

The 7^th Annual Conference on Healthy Food and Children. Salt, Sugar, and Fat: Necessary and Allowable Levels, held within Prodexpo 2020, gathered together nutritionists, dietitians, child food manufacturers and distributors, pedagogues and parents – everyone who cares about child nutrition and health.

The conference was organized by Expocentre AO and the Scientific Research Institute of Nutrition. Institute specialists presented their latest studies of the nutrition of children aged from 3 to 13, which were used to develop the domestic policy of optimized child nutrition.

According to the studies, 95% of children daily eat cereals, 85% eat meat, up to 90% drink milk, about 50% eat cheese, including cotton cheese, and 40% eat fish. Child nutrition experiences strong influence of socioeconomic factors, including family income. It also differs from one region and ethnic group to another.

Specialists are concerned about high levels of sugar and salt consumption by children. For instance, sugar consumption exceeds the recommended norm 1.5 times.

“There is no food deficit today but we are dealing with the problems of overeating and rations imbalanced by main components,” said Evelina Keshabyants, senior research fellow from the laboratory of epidemiology of nutrition and genetic diagnosing of nutritional-dependent diseases of the Scientific Research Institute of Nutrition.

Leading research fellow from the age-related nutrition laboratory of the Scientific Research Institute of Nutrition Maria Gmoshinskaya told the audience about developing a healthy diet for children of the young age. She underlined the importance of breast-feeding and the need to continue the state program of breast-feeding popularization. According to experts, slightly more than 40% of children aged from 3 to 6 months are breast-fed in Russia (the WHO recommends the rate of at least 50%), and 10% are nourished with baby formulas.

Specialists are concerned about late addition of complementary foods (recommended from the age of 4-6 months), as well as early introduction of “non-child” products into the children's diet. Some 77% of children in their first year of life have an unbalanced diet, said Ms. Gmoshinskaya.

The conference also addressed current child nutrition trends as a factor helping prevent non-infectious diseases, child food requirements, and some other issues.