MCSP Nutrition Brief: Junk Food Consumption is a Nutrition Problem among Infants and Young Children

Junk food consumption can contribute to the 'double burden of malnutrition', which is defined as the dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition occurring simultaneously within a population. Countries experiencing a 'nutrition transition' are characterized by increasing consumption of junk foods, and a growing number of meals purchased and/or consumed away from home. A 2016 analysis of DHS data indicates that child undernutrition is declining globally, with a 0.41 percent per year decline in the prevalence of stunting since 2000. However, overweight is rising among children under five years of age, with average annual changes of 0.08 percent per year during the same period. The double burden of malnutrition, defined as the presence of both stunting and overweight in the same child, ranges from 3.0 to 37.8 percent in USAID Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Death (EPCMD) and Feed the Future (FtF) countries. Results of the study demonstrate that both forms of malnutrition are notable in several sub-Saharan African countries, including Rwanda, Mozambique, Zambia, and Nigeria. Consumption of junk foods is a feeding problem for children under two years of age, with DHS data and several studies revealing that complementary feeding of junk foods is common in children under two years of age, especially in urban areas. Analyses of available DHS data reveal that up to 32 percent of infants and children, 6-23 months of age, are fed sugary foods, largely in sub-Saharan African countries. This feeding problem is emerging in countries with moderate to high levels of child stunting, and rising child overweight. In several countries, including Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia, the prevalence of child overweight is greater than 7 percent, which is the global target set by the World Health Organization (WHO). Higher intake of junk foods has been found among young children (12-23 months of age) versus infants (6-8 months of age) and among children in households of higher versus lower wealth quintiles, and in urban in comparison to rural areas. Other studies have reported that sweets and sugary food items were fed to 15 and 7 percent of children 2-5 years of age in Burundi and DRC, respectively, while fat and oil-containing foods were consumed by about 60 percent of children in both settings. Condensed and flavored milks, soft drinks, and biscuits were reported to be commonly fed foods given to children 5 years of age in urban and wealthier households in southwest Nigeria. Several studies have revealed that complementary feeding of junk foods is common among the urban poor. In Bangladeshi slums, only half of mothers fed home-made complementary foods to children 6-23 months of age, while in Nigeria, 65 percent of urban mothers fed biscuits and 16 percent gave soft drinks to their 6-18 month old children. In Kenyan slums, 41 percent of infants received sweetened water or sweetened flavored water in the first 6 months of life. Data also indicate that among slum-dwelling families in India, 80 percent of mothers fed ready-made snacks, such as chips, puffed rice, and biscuits to their children, 6-36 months of age.