Toddlers do NOT need toddler formula….
The number of Americans who breastfeed their children has risen steadily over the past few decades ― a public health win that results in better nutrition and lower health risks for mothers and babies. But this positive development is at odds with the interests of the baby formula industry, whose sales in recent years have flattened in the U.S.
Companies that make baby formula ― Nestle, Abbott, Mead Johnson and Danone are the top four worldwide ― have responded by heavily marketing other products within the category of “formula food.” One particular product that started showing up on supermarket shelves in the 1980s has now become the global industry’s fastest growing product: toddler formula.
Toddler formula, marketed for kids 9 months and up, is meant to be a “nutritional supplement” ensuring that children receive the nutrients they need as they transition from breast milk or baby formula to solid food, according to the formula makers.
But the World Health Organization and pediatric nutrition experts say toddler formula and toddler milks are unnecessary because small children can get all the nutrients they need from a healthy whole-foods diet. Some experts even contend that toddler formulas are potentially harmful in the long run….