Study on bad eating habits finds children under 2 eating fries, drinking soda
T.A. BADGER, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, October 25, 2003
©2003 Associated Press

(10-25) 13:30 PDT SAN ANTONIO (AP) --

Even before their second birthday, many American children are developing the same bad eating habits that plague the nation's adults -- too much fat, sugar and salt and too few fruits and vegetables.

A new study of more than 3,000 youngsters found significant numbers of infants and toddlers are downing french fries, pizza, candy and soda.

Children aged 1 to 2 years require about 950 calories per day, but the study found that the median intake for that age group is 1,220 calories, -- an excess of nearly 30 percent. For those 7 months to 11 months old, the daily caloric surplus was about 20 percent.

"By 24 months, patterns look startlingly similar to some of the problematic American dietary patterns," said an overview of the Feeding Infants & Toddlers Study, commissioned by baby-food maker Gerber Products Co.