Mindful when feeding children with cheaper food

The spreading of non-communicable diseases in society is much higher, and people, especially parents should be very careful when giving cheaper foods to their children, such as an array of soft drinks sold in the market, as they contain excessive sugar, salt and fat, Health Ministry's Nutrition Division Director and specialist Dr. Lakmini Nayana Magodarathne said.

Addressing the media, she said the nutritional level of these cheap foods and drinks is not optimal.

Moreover, she said in the face of the economic crisis, even though nutritious foods are expensive, there are food varieties sold at cheaper prices in the market.

Therefore, the health ministry had introduced the "traffic light system' to categorize foods and drinks into three groups: green (best choices), yellow (choose carefully) and red (limit).

Foods and drinks in the green category are the healthiest choices. They are usually good sources of important nutrients, lower in saturated fat, added sugar and/or salt, lower in energy (kilojoules) and higher in fibre.

Yellow foods and drinks should be selected carefully and should only be eaten in moderation. Although amber items may provide some good nutrients they can lead to taking in too much energy (kilojoules) and contain saturated fat, added sugar and/or salt.

Foods and drinks in the red category are not essential. If  consumed too often or in large volumes, they can lead to weight gain and chronic diseases. In general red choices are high in energy (kilojoules), high in saturated fat, added sugar and/or salt and low in important nutrients such as fibre.

Dr. Magodarathne advised the public to limit buying packet foods with the red traffic light indicator. But people used to check only the price and the expiry date when buying packaged foods. It also requests consumers to limit buying foods with yellow traffic lights. 

Therefore, the doctor advised the public to limit the use of foods containing high volumes of sugar, fat and salt and avoid giving them to children and youth as they could become addicted to those. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)