RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20024, USA.
Nutrients. 2019 Mar 14;11(3):618. doi: 10.3390/nu11030618.
Improvements in the healthfulness of packaged foods and beverages through reformulation could help reduce the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents through improved diet quality. This study assessed changes in calories and four nutrients (saturated fat, total sugars, sodium, and dietary fiber) from 2012 through 2014 for packaged products frequently consumed by children and adolescents, simulated effects of potential improvements in 12 frequently consumed product categories based on actual purchasing patterns, and compared differences in prices of healthier versus less healthy products. Analysis of trends showed limited evidence that healthfulness of foods improved over the years examined. Simulation results showed minimal changes for calories and sodium, but daily intake of saturated fat could decrease by 4%, sugar consumption could decrease by 5%, and dietary fiber consumption could increase by 11% if products were reformulated to meet an existing healthfulness standard. Using a higher standard, caloric intake could decline by 4%, saturated fat by 6%, sugar by 9%, and sodium by 4%, and dietary fiber could increase by 14%. Healthier versions of most products ranged from an average of 3 to 12 cents more per serving, but not all healthier versions were more costly. Overall, reformulation is a potential avenue for improving diet quality in households with children and adolescents, but price could be a barrier to purchasing healthier products for some households.
通过配方改良提高包装食品和饮料的健康度，可能有助于通过改善饮食质量来降低儿童和青少年肥胖的流行率。本研究评估了 2012 年至 2014 年间儿童和青少年经常食用的包装产品中卡路里和四种营养素（饱和脂肪、总糖、钠和膳食纤维）的变化，根据实际购买模式模拟了 12 种经常食用产品类别中潜在改良的效果，并比较了健康产品与不太健康产品的价格差异。趋势分析表明，这些年食品健康度的改善证据有限。模拟结果显示，卡路里和钠的变化很小，但如果产品按照现有的健康标准进行配方改良，饱和脂肪的日摄入量可减少 4%，糖的摄入量可减少 5%，膳食纤维的摄入量可增加 11%。如果使用更高的标准，卡路里摄入量可减少 4%，饱和脂肪减少 6%，糖减少 9%，钠减少 4%，膳食纤维增加 14%。大多数产品的健康版本每份价格平均高出 3 到 12 美分，但并非所有健康版本都更贵。总体而言，配方改良是改善有儿童和青少年的家庭饮食质量的一个潜在途径，但对一些家庭来说，价格可能是购买更健康产品的障碍。
