Parents ‘Tricked’ by Unhealthy Baby Food in US Grocery Stores, Study Warns [Video]

Parents are being “deceived” by health claims on baby food products sold in major U.S. grocery stores, according to research published today.

Manufacturers use promotional claims to distract consumers from a product’s poor nutritional profile and give the misleading impression of healthiness, wrote researchers from The George Institute for Global Health in scientific journal Nutrients.

“Time-poor parents are increasingly choosing convenience foods, unaware that many of these products lack key nutrients needed for their child’s development and tricked into believing they are healthier than they really are,” said Elizabeth Dunford, nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina.

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“Early childhood is a crucial period of rapid growth and when taste preferences and dietary habits form, potentially paving the way for the development of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and some cancers later in life.”