This paper reviews federal dietary recommendations and requirements for nutrition programs, packaged food labels and restaurant menus; state regulation of retail environments and child care settings; food companies' self-regulatory options; and directions for future research and policy initiatives.
Support policies that seek to reduce the consumption of fruit juice and promote the consumption of whole fruit by toddlers and young children (eg, child care/preschools) already exposed to juices, including through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), provided that those policies do not have negative nutritional consequences (ie, inadequate total calories, absence of any fruit in the diet) for children without access to fresh fruit.”
In the United States, WIC feeds more than 25% of pregnant women and more than half of children at some point in their first 5 years of life.1 By serving such a large percentage of the population, this program has tremendous potential to influence the country’s dietary patterns.
Excessive fruit juice consumption is associated with increased risk for obesity. Moreover, there is recent scientific evidence that sucrose consumption without the corresponding fiber, as is commonly present in fruit juice, is associated with the metabolic syndrome, liver injury, and obesity.
Higher juice intake at 1 year was associated with higher juice intake, SSB intake, and BMI z-score during early and mid-childhood.
Infant formula sales in the US are a competitive and profitable marketplace environment. FDA restrictions on such new formula releases are designed to ensure that there is minimal evidence of risk, but often the evidence for benefit is not established. Some of these products may confuse families relative to the value of breastfeeding or to the value of spending money on more expensive formulas than are medically needed. In other cases, they lead to multiple formula switches over relatively minor symptoms that would best be managed through parental education. They may also pose risks for populations including late preterm infants or infants with other risk factors for poor growth.
Pilot quality improvement intervention did not create sustainable change and did not improve eating or physical activity behaviors in WIC mothers
Receipt of an unconditional prenatal income supplement was associated with positive outcomes. Placing conditions on income supplements may not be necessary to promote prenatal and perinatal health.
The results demonstrate that prenatal WIC participation is associated with reduced risk of RIWG between birth and age 1 year.
Many women exhibited postpartum risk factors for future adverse health events, including overweight or obesity (62.3%), depressive symptoms (27.5%), and no folic acid supplementation (65.5%). Most characteristics did not differ significantly between mothers of preterm infants and full-term infants or between mothers of low birth weight and normal birth weight infants.
