Objetivo: Identificar a idade de introduc¸ão do refrigerante e de sucos industrializados na dieta
de lactentes matriculados em berc¸ários de creches públicas e comparar as composic¸ões nutricionais
dessas bebidas com as do suco de fruta natural.
Métodos: Estudo transversal com 636 crianc¸as (de zero a 36 meses) de berc¸ários de creches,
cujas mães foram entrevistadas sobre idade de introduc¸ão dos alimentos. Avaliaram-se as
composic¸ões centesimais do refrigerante e sucos industrializados, comparando-as com as do
suco de laranja natural para valor energético, ac¸úcar, fibra, vitamina C e sódio. A composic¸ão
centesimal do suco de laranja foi obtida por meio de consulta à Tabela de Composic¸ão de Alimentos
e, para as bebidas industrializadas, utilizaram-se as médias das informac¸ões nutricionais
contidas nos rótulos de cinco marcas mais consumidas dos produtos.
Resultados: O refrigerante e suco industrializado foram consumidos antes do primeiro ano de
vida por mais da metade das crianc¸as estudadas, sendo que cerca de 10% o consumiram antes dos
seis meses. Quando comparadas à composic¸ão do suco de laranja natural, bebidas forneceram
quantidades de 9 a 13 vezes superiores de sódio e 15 vezes inferiores de vitamina C.
Conclusões: A introduc¸ão de refrigerantes e sucos industrializados na dieta dos lactentes foi
inoportuna e precoce. Comparados ao suco de fruta natural, tais bebidas possuem composicão nutricional inferior, sugerindo a necessidade de medidas fundamentadas em estratégias de
educac¸ão alimentar e nutricional como forma de promover a formac¸ão e manutenc¸ão de hábitos
alimentares saudáveis
Objective: Identifying at what age infants enrolled in public day care centers are introduced to
soft drinks and industrialized juice, as well as comparing the nutritional composition of these
goods with natural fruit juice.
Methods: A cross-sectional study with the mothers of 636 children (aged 0 to 36 months) from
nurseries of day care centers, who were asked questions about the age of feeding introduction.
This study evaluated the proximate composition of soft drinks and artificial juice, comparing
them with those of natural fruit juice regarding energy, sugar, fiber, vi tamin C, and sodium
values. The chemical composition of fruit juice was obtained by consulting the Table of Food
Composition and, for industrialized drinks, the average nutritional information on the labels of
the five most consumed product brands.
Results: The artificial drinks were consumed before the first year of life by more than half of
the children studied, however, approximately 10% consumed them before the age of 6 months.
With regard to the comparison among the drinks, artificial fruit juice beverages and soft drinks
proved to contain from nine to 13 times higher amounts of sodium, and 15 times less vitamin C
than natural juices.
Conclusions: The introduction of soft drinks and industrialized juice in the diet of infants was
inopportune and premature. When compared to natural fruit juice, these have inferior nutritional
composition, which suggests the urgent need for measures based on strategies for food
and nutrition education in order to promote awareness and the maintenance of healthy eating
habits.
