OBJECTIVE: Identifying at what age infants enrolled in public day care centers are
introduced to soft drinks and industrialized juice, as well as comparing the
nutritional composition of these goods with natural fruit juice. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with the mothers of 636 children (aged 0 to 36 months)
from nurseries of day care centers, who were asked questions about the age of
feeding introduction. This study evaluated the proximate composition of soft
drinks and artificial juice, comparing them with those of natural fruit juice
regarding energy, sugar, fiber, vitamin C, and sodium values. The chemical
composition of fruit juice was obtained by consulting the Table of Food
Composition and, for industrialized drinks, the average nutritional information on
the labels of the five most consumed product brands. RESULTS: The artificial drinks were consumed before the first year of life by more than
half of the children studied, however, approximately 10% consumed them before the
age of 6 months. With regard to the comparison among the drinks, artificial fruit
juice beverages and soft drinks proved to contain from nine to 13 times higher
amounts of sodium, and 15 times less vitamin C than natural juices. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of soft drinks and industrialized juice in the diet of infants
was inopportune and premature.. When compared to natural fruit juice, these have
inferior nutritional composition, which suggests the urgent need for measures
based on strategies for food and nutrition education in order to promote awareness
and the maintenance of healthy eating habits.