Though I don’t have kids, I know from my years covering health that early-childhood nutrition is critical—so much of how kids eat in the first few years of life can have long-term impacts on their health. That’s why it was so shocking for me to learn about the unregulated Wild West of “toddler formula” (sometimes called “toddler milk”), which is sold as the nutritional next step for babies being weaned off breastmilk or infant formula. These corn-syrup- and vegetable-oil-laden beverages have next to nothing in common with carefully designed infant formulas, but you’d never know it from the nearly identical packaging and closes space they share on store shelves.
The confusion this causes is likely intentional, experts say. The origins of toddler milk can be traced back to the 1980s, when many countries banned direct-to-consumer marketing of infant formulas and brands searched for a stand-in to keep logos in magazines and profits high. Now, with toddler milk sales climbing, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts say that it’s time to expand industry regulations to cover these products too, both to prevent dangerous mix-ups and protect the diets of toddlers—who don’t really require any supplemental nutrition.
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