LAUSR

BACKGROUND Current dietary guidelines recommend avoiding foods and beverages with added sugars and higher sodium before 2 years of age. OBJECTIVE The aim was to describe daily snack food intake (frequency, energy) and the associations with overconsumed nutrients (added sugars, sodium, saturated fats) and child weight-for-length (WFL) z-scores. DESIGN A cross-sectional, secondary analysis of baseline data from an ongoing longitudinal intervention was conducted. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING A sample of 141 caregivers with infants (9 to 11 months) and toddlers (12 to 15 months) was recruited in Buffalo, NY between 2017 and 2019. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Three 24-hour dietary recalls were used to categorize 'sweet and salty snack foods' or 'commercial baby snack foods' based on the USDA's What We Eat in America food group classifications and estimate nutrient intakes. Child recumbent length and weight were measured by trained researchers. STATISTICAL ANALYSES Frequency (times/d), energy (kcal/d), and overconsumed nutrients from snack food intake were calculated. Multivariable regression models examined associations between the frequency of and energy from snack food intake with overconsumed nutrients and child WFL z-scores. RESULTS Infants consumed snack foods on average 1.2 times/d contributing 5.6% of total daily energy (kcal/d), 19.6% of added sugars (g/d), and 6.8% of sodium (mg/d). Toddlers consumed snack foods on average 1.4 times/d contributing 8.9% of total daily energy (kcal/d), 40.0% of added sugars (g/d), and 7.2% of sodium (mg/d). In adjusted models including all children, greater frequency of sweet and salty snack food intake, but not commercial baby snack foods, was associated with higher WFL z-scores. CONCLUSIONS Snack foods are frequently consumed by infants and toddlers and contribute to the intake of overconsumed nutrients such as added sugars and sodium. Given the current guidelines to avoid added sugars and higher sodium before 2 years of age, additional recommendations related to nutrient-dense snack intake may be beneficial.