Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Foods of Low Nutritional Value, and Child Undernutrition in Cambodia

Akemi Brown (), Margaret Trimble, Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, Lia Fernald, Kristine Madsen and Bathsheba Turton
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Akemi Brown: University of California San Francisco Joint Medical Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Margaret Trimble: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Karen Sokal-Gutierrez: University of California San Francisco Joint Medical Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Lia Fernald: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Kristine Madsen: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Bathsheba Turton: University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh 12211, Cambodia

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: Child undernutrition persists in Cambodia despite recent progress. As Cambodia undergoes a shift in dietary consumption that coincides with economic, demographic, and epidemiologic changes, there is risk of ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages displacing nutrient-dense foods during the critical period of infant growth in the first 24 months. The aim of this study was to assess the introduction and intake of foods of low nutritional value and sugar-sweetened beverages and their association with undernutrition among children 24 months of age in rural and semi-urban Cambodia. Cross-sectional analyses of a 24-h dietary recall from a sample ( n = 377) of 24-month-olds found that the majority of infants had been introduced to packaged salty snacks and sweets by 12 months of age and to sugar-sweetened beverages by 15 months. By 24 months of age, 78% of children had consumed foods of low nutritional value and 57% consumed a sugar-sweetened beverage on the previous day. Multivariate logistic regression analyses demonstrated that infant intake of a flavored sugary drink on the previous day was associated with over two times the odds of both stunting and wasting, and consumption of packaged sweets on the previous day was associated with over two times the odds of wasting, but no association was found with stunting. These findings underscore the need to improve educational and policy interventions to support healthy feeding practices for infants and young children.

Keywords: stunting; wasting; malnutrition; Cambodia; sugar-sweetened beverages; ultra-processed foods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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