UNICEF’s 2025 Child Nutrition Report, published on 10 September 2025, raises important questions about the prevalence of malnutrition, particularly overweight and obesity, and the importance of food environments that provide nutritious and healthy foods.

Early childhood is a critical time for the growth and development of a child. The importance of adequate and age-appropriate nutrition during this time cannot be overstated. Breastfeeding, formula feeding, mixed feeding, home prepared food, manufactured baby food and nutritional supplementation form the nutritional basis to achieve optimal growth and development during this period. They are also the nutritional tools to avert the burden of malnutrition.

Whilst the report rightly highlights the need to address malnutrition with actions across the food, health, water and sanitation, education and social protection systems, it is wrong to include ‘commercially produced complementary foods’ in its definition of ‘ultra-processed foods and beverages’ and to falsely implicate these foods as a driver of overweight and obesity. The marketing of formula milks and complementary foods is also wrongly characterised as undermining breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices.

• Complementary foods are foods for special dietary uses (FSDU), which are defined by Codex Alimentarius as ‘specially processed or formulated to satisfy particular dietary requirements’. The term ‘ultra-processed’ is not internationally defined, lacks a scientific basis and is not a valid basis for categorising foods.
• Associating this term with the healthiness of foods is misleading and potentially harmful, especially as commercially produced complementary foods can play an important role in addressing nutrient deficiencies that are common when a child transitions to a family diet.
• Manufacturers are an important source of scientific and factual information about their products, which helps parents and caregivers make informed decisions about the most suitable nutritional options for their infants and young children.

ISDI and its members fully support the work of Codex Alimentarius to develop a new standard for foods for older infants and young children. This standard will be an important tool for improving the quality and safety of complementary foods worldwide.

Furthermore, our industry is wholly committed to marketing its products responsibly in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, with consideration for the realities of parents’ lives and the need for science-based infant feeding support free from pressure or judgment.

ISDI remains committed to constructive dialogue on improving infant and young child nutrition and addressing malnutrition within all appropriate fora and with all stakeholders. We reserve further comment until we have had the opportunity to fully evaluate the report.