Nestle to extend its child health and nutrition research to 10 countries

Global food and beverage company Nestle will be expanding its research on child health and nutrition to 10 countries by the end of 2016.

The countries to come under the research programme include the US, China and Mexico.

Research is aimed at exploring the eating patterns, nutrient intakes, child lifestyle and behavioural factors, and healthy weight indicators of children up to 12 years of age, as this is the age when children form critical habits that might influence their health in the future.

The company is carrying out two studies under the research, the Kids Nutrition and Health Study (KNHS) and Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS).

As a part of its KNHS research, Nestle recently found that skipping lunch was common among children and adolescents. The study had evaluated eating patterns of around 3,647 children between the ages 4-13 years.

The study also found that children who skipped their lunch had lower intakes of nutrients, including calcium and fibre in comparison to children who ate their lunch.

Nestle presented its findings at the 2015 American Society of Nutrition conference.

Nestlé USA vice-president of scientific and regulatory affairs Timothy Morck said: "Nestlé will rely on FITS and KNHS learnings to continually improve the nutritional profiles of our products that address unmet nutritional needs, as well as communications, programs and services to inform health care providers, parents and caregivers."

As a result of findings from FITS, Nestle adjusted the ingredients in Gerber Graduates meals to make up for the lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet.

Over time, these studies are expected to provide country-specific and global information on infant and child nutrition to inform solutions that address their nutritional needs. This information will be shared in scientific forums over several years to help inform public health communities around the world.

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Image: Nestle’s child health and nutrition research will be extended to 10 countries. Photo: courtesy of Nestle.