Majority of baby foods in US grocery stores may not meet health guidelines, study finds

August 22, 2024

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(NEW YORK) — A new study of common baby foods sampled from grocery stores in the United States found that roughly two-thirds did not meet standards for healthy baby food set by the World Health Organization.

Researchers who led the study, published Wednesday in the journal Nutrients, said parents should be aware that although more convenient, packaged baby food should be eaten in moderation.

When possible financially and practically, kids’ diets should consist of whole foods, including grains, fruits and vegetables.

For the study, researchers looked at data on more than 600 infant and toddler food products sold in the top 10 grocery store chains in the U.S.

The products analyzed are intended for children ages 6 to 36 months, according to the study.

Of the more than 600 products, 70% did not meet protein requirements set by the WHO, and 25% failed to meet calorie recommendations.

When it came to sugar content, 44% of products exceeded sugar requirements and 74% contained added sugar or sweeteners, according to the study.

In addition, the study found that all of the products had at least one claim on their packaging that did not meet WHO standards.

Products that came in snack-size packaging were found by researchers to have the lowest nutritional compliance.

“These findings highlight that urgent work is needed to improve the nutritional quality of commercially produced infant and toddler foods in the United States,” the researchers wrote.

Emphasis on fresh, whole foods for kids

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that caregivers start to introduce solid foods to infants around 6 months of age.

Infants and toddlers should have no added sugars in their diets, including in drinks, according to the USDA.

As with adults, it’s important that kids eat a variety of foods, with an emphasis on foods that are non-processed.

For grains, the USDA recommends that parents and caregivers look closely at ingredient lists for words like “whole wheat flour” and “whole grain.”

Vegetables are important to vary and can be served to toddlers and infants in a variety of ways, including roasted, steamed or mashed, according to the USDA.

Fruits can be served to infants and toddlers fresh, frozen or canned, but should also include no added sugar, according to the USDA.

USDA guidelines also say foods high in sodium should be limited for infants and toddlers.

FDA approves first new drug for schizophrenia in more than 30 years

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(SILVER SPRING, Md.) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved the first new drug to treat people with schizophrenia in more than 30 years.

Cobenfy, manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb, combines two drugs, xanomeline and trospium chloride, and is taken as a twice-daily pill. In clinical trials, this combination helped manage symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking, which are common in schizophrenia.

“Schizophrenia is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It is a severe, chronic mental illness that is often damaging to a person’s quality of life,” Tiffany Farchione, M.D., director of the Division of Psychiatry, Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the approval announcement.

“This drug takes the first new approach to schizophrenia treatment in decades,” Farchione continued. “This approval offers a new alternative to the antipsychotic medications people with schizophrenia have previously been prescribed.”

Cobenfy offers new hope for people with schizophrenia, providing an innovative treatment option that could change how this condition is managed, according to Jelena Kunovac, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the Department of Psychiatry.

“We are overdue for a medication that targets schizophrenia with a different mechanism of action,” Kunovac told ABC News.

The first drugs for schizophrenia, including chlorpromazine and haloperidol – also known by the brand names Thorazine and Haldol, respectively – were introduced in the 1950s and revolutionized treatment of the disease. However, there have been very few new medications since then, with most subsequent FDA approvals being for variations of these older drugs.

Most schizophrenia medications, broadly known as antipsychotics, work by changing dopamine levels, a brain chemical that affects mood, motivation, and thinking, Kunovac explained. Cobenfy takes a different approach by adjusting acetylcholine, another brain chemical that aids memory, learning and attention, she said.

By focusing on acetylcholine instead of dopamine, Cobenfy may reduce schizophrenia symptoms while avoiding common side effects like weight gain, drowsiness and movement disorders, clinical trials suggest. These side effects often become so severe and unpleasant that, in some studies mirroring real-world challenges, many patients stopped treatment within 18 months of starting it.

In clinical trials, only 6% of patients stopped taking Cobenfy due to side effects, noted Dr. Samit Hirawat, chief medical officer at Bristol Myers Squibb. “That’s a significant improvement over the 20-30% seen with older antipsychotic drugs,” he added.

The most common side effects of Cobenfy are nausea, indigestion, constipation, vomiting, hypertension, abdominal pain, diarrhea, increased heart rate, dizziness and gastroesophageal reflux disease, according to the FDA announcement.

“It may prove advantageous to those who don’t tolerate what has been available,” Dr. Leslie Citrome, a clinical professor of psychiatry and expert in psychopharmacology at New York Medical College, told ABC News regarding Cobenfy. “This will provide a new approach that may work out quite nicely.”

Citrome emphasized that patients who have trouble tolerating the side effects of traditional schizophrenia medications may benefit most from Cobenfy, and that a different mechanism of action holds hope for those who have not responded adequately to existing treatments.

Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder that affects about 24 million people worldwide, or roughly one in 300 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It often leads to significant challenges in daily functioning, work, and relationships, impacting both patients and their families.

The disorder typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood and can lead to lifelong disability if not properly managed, according to the WHO, further highlighting the need for effective treatment options.

Following approval, doctors could start prescribing Cobenfy by the end of October, according to Adam Lenkowsky, executive vice president and chief commercialization officer at Bristol Myers Squibb.

Experts hope that the drug’s unique mechanism and reduced side effects will help set a new standard of care for schizophrenia patients. Studies for additional therapeutic uses, including the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and bipolar disorder, are also underway.

Jake Goodman, MD, MBA is a psychiatry resident physician and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

HPV vaccine coverage has dropped among teens since 2020, CDC report finds

Getty Images – STOCK/Peter Dazeley

(NEW YORK) — The percentage of teenagers who were up to date on their human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines has fallen dramatically since 2020, according to new federal data released Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends children from ages 11 to 12 receive two doses of the HPV vaccine, given six to 12 months apart, although children can get the vaccine starting at age 9.

Anybody under age 26 can get the HPV vaccine if they have not been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. People ages 15 to 26 years old who have not received the HPV vaccine typically need three doses to be fully vaccinated.

The CDC’s report looked at data from the 2023 National Immunization Survey -Teen, a group of phone surveys used to monitor vaccination coverage among teenagers. Similar ones are conducted for children and adults.

The survey looked at trends in coverage by birth year, and trends in coverage by eligibility for the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, a federally funded program that provides vaccines to children whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them.

The program found that vaccination coverage for vaccines including tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap), as well as for the meningococcal ACWY vaccine, was generally stable during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, there was a notable decrease in the percentage of adolescents who were up to date with HPV vaccination by age 13 among those born in 2010 — who would have turned 13 in 2023 — compared with those born in 2007, who would have turned 13 in 2020.

For teens who were born in 2007, 52.8% of those who were not eligible for VFC were up to date on their HPV vaccines by age 13. By comparison, only 48.7% of non-eligible teens born in 2010 were up to date by age 13.

Among teens born in 2007 who were VFC eligible, 53% were up to date by age 13. However, only 42.7% of eligible teens born in 2010 were up to date by age 13.

“The decline in the percentage of VFC- eligible adolescents who are HPV [up to date] could signal a change in accessibility to vaccination through the VFC program, a change that needs further exploration,” the report read. “This possibility under-scores the importance of ongoing efforts to ensure equitable access to vaccination services for all children and adolescents.”

Overall, 2023 coverage was similar to 2022, with 76.8% of all teens between ages 13 and 17 receiving at least one dose of the HPV vaccine compared to 76.0% in 2022, the report found.

However, only 61.4% of all teenagers in this age group were updated on their HPV vaccines, down from 64.6% in 2022.

HPV is a very common STI that infects about 13 million Americans each year, according to the CDC. Nearly everyone will contract HPV at some point in their lives, the CDC says.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, and most HPV infections clear up on their own within two years.

About 10% of infections last longer and can put individuals at risk for some cancers including cervix, vaginal and vulvar cancer; penile cancer; anal cancer; and oropharyngeal cancer, which is a cancer of the back of the throat, according to the CDC.

Every year, HPV causes about 37,000 cases of cancer in both men and women in the U.S., according to the federal health agency. However, HPV vaccination can prevent more than 90% of HPV cancers when given at the recommended ages, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Health care providers should make strong recommendations for all routine vaccines and verify if adolescents, particularly those eligible for the VFC program, are up to date with all recommended vaccines,” the report stated.

Woman shares small changes that helped her lose over 200 pounds

Leah Hope

(NEW YORK) — A woman who lost over 200 pounds said she accomplished it by focusing not on the weight she was losing, but the life she was gaining.

“I wanted to gain life more than I wanted to lose weight,” Leah Hope told ABC News’ Good Morning America of her motivation, adding, “There’s a much bigger picture that this is not about wanting a smaller body, but it is about chasing a bigger life.”

Hope, 35, said she hit a “rock bottom” moment in 2022 when she visited Disneyland in California with family members.

Weighing almost 400 pounds at the time, Hope said she remembers being in pain after just a few hours of walking at the theme park.

“I just had to end up spending most of the day by myself while my sister’s family was out enjoying the park,” Hope recalled. “I just left that day saying, ‘This is not the life that I want to be living, and if I continue on the path that I’m on, this is what my life is going to continue to look like.'”

After being overweight most of her life, Hope said she realized she had “become comfortable in my discomfort” and was motivated to change things.

She said she started small and focused on making one change at a time and then layering on more changes.

“Once that thing didn’t feel overwhelming anymore, then I added another thing,” Hope said.

For example, Hope said she started her weight loss journey by just adding one nutritious food to her diet each day.

Once she was comfortable with that change, she added one nutritious meal, and then began walking 10 minutes per day and later began writing what she was eating in a food journal.

“What prompted me to try to lose weight naturally was my focus on wanting to get healthy from the inside out, both internally, hormones, organs, all that, and mentally, emotionally, just holistic health, changing my lifestyle overall,” Hope said. “And so it seemed like it would make most sense to approach this naturally for myself.”

Hope added that while small changes and a natural approach to weight loss worked for her, everyone is different. People should consult with their health care provider before starting any weight loss routine.

“I strongly believe everyone has to decide what the best route is for them,” Hope said.

As she started to change her lifestyle, Hope began sharing her journey on social media. A TikTok video she posted last year, one year into her weight loss effort, now has over 14 million views.

When she faced obstacles on her two-year weight loss journey, Hope said she reminded herself of her focus on “gaining life” versus losing weight.

“As long as I continued to tell myself that, I could look at the scale and say, ‘You know what? Maybe the scale didn’t go down this week, but I did 2,000 more steps this day,’ or, ‘I actually enjoyed this healthy meal that I prepared,” Hope said. “Shifting my mindset to focus on building healthy habits, rather than just seeing a smaller number on the scale, is really what helped me continue through the road bumps, through not seeing the results that I wanted, and just continuing to remind myself that there’s a much bigger picture to this.”

The Walt Disney Co., is the parent company of ABC News.