Kids 'better off eating ready meals'

21 July 2016 - 09:29 By ©The Daily Telegraph

Parents who cook "healthy" food from recipe books for young children might be better advised to serve ready meals instead, scientists have warned. Half of the recipes contained too many calories and could lead to childhood obesity and poor health, they conclude.Researchers at the University of Aberdeen compared 408 recipes from the 55 bestselling cookbooks for infants with 278 children's meals from UK supermarkets.Parenting experts recommend the introduction of solid foods at six months old and suggest that meals should include a variety of food to provide a balanced diet rich in a broad range of nutrients.Home-cooked meals were found to provide 26% more energy and 44% more protein and total fat than commercial products.While almost two-thirds of commercial products met dietary recommendations on energy density, only about a third of home-cooked meals did.More than half exceeded the maximum calorie range; however, they were between six and 77% more nutritious."The majority of commercial meals met energy recommendations and can provide a convenient alternative," said lead author Sharon Carstairs. ..

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