March 14, 2012

Hong Kong babies drink too much milk and eat too little fruit and vegetables, a survey of infant food consumption has found.
 
The Department of Health survey covered 1,588 randomly-selected Chinese parents of children aged from six to 48 months.
 
It found a large proportion of infants were drinking more than the recommended amount of 480ml of milk per day.
 
About 69.6% of the year-old group, 47.6% of the 18-month-old group, 35.7% of the two-year-old group, and 9.9% of the four-year-old group had milk intakes exceeding the recommended level.
 
Most consumed formula milk instead of cow's milk, with 94.4% and 79.6% of them in the two-year-old and four-year-old groups.
 
The department said use of the bottle and parents' misconceptions about the nutritional benefits of formula milk may have contributed to the high milk intake and their milk choice.
 
Meanwhile, the infants' vegetable and fruit intakes were more than 60% and 30% below the recommended level.