The ‘dairy-free’ trend popularized by millennials in recent years is now affecting babies, experts warn.
There has been a massive spike in the number of infants prescribed special formula, which is often far more sugary than milk-based products.
Experts said the problem is there are much higher rates of children being diagnosed with a milk allergy than would be expected.
They warned the rise in special formula could promote obesity and tooth decay in young children.
Researchers from Imperial College London analyzed the prescriptions of specialized infant formula in England, Norway and Australia.
Rates in England are twelve-fold higher than what would be expected for the number of children with milk allergies, they found.
Prescribed amounts of specialized formula for infants rose three-fold in England from 2007-2018, with similar trends in other regions of the UK, they discovered.
Co-author Dr Robert Boyle, from Imperial, argued that the rise may have been caused by ‘formula industry marketing’.
There has been a massive spike in the number of infants prescribed special, dairy-free formula which is often far more sugary than milk-based products (file image)
Imperial College London found researchers drank nearly 11million liters of expensive formulas in England in 2018. The figure was 2.8 times more than the less than 4million liters prescribed to children aged under one in 2007, they found in a study
Amounts more than doubled in Norway between 2009 and 2020, and trebled in Australia from 2001-2012.
Dr Boyle warned the trend could increase childhood obesity rates.
More than a quarter of under fives are overweight or obese in the UK — rising to four in ten eleven year olds. Around one-in-four five year-olds already have cavities.
Cow’s milk allergy is estimated to affect up to one per cent of under-twos.
Specialized products have been developed as alternatives to formula containing powdered milk.
The study, published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy in May, tracked national prescription data in England from 1991 to 2020 for babies in all three countries.
Researchers modeled the expected prescription rate based on assuming one per cent of all under-ones each year would require the formula.
This was compared to the actual prescription numbers across three different types of formula: soy, extensively hydrolysed formula and amino acid formula.
Total prescriptions soared 2.8-fold in England from 2007 to 2018 — with similar trends in other regions of the UK.
Amino acid formulas — which are of particular concern due to higher sugar levels — soared by 6.7 per cent in the country.
The number of all specialized formulas prescribed rose 2.2-fold in Norway from 2009 to 2020 and 3.2-fold in Australia between 2001 and 2012.
Dr Boyle said: ‘These data suggest high levels of milk allergy over-diagnosis and mark an important shift in early child nutrition.
‘Unnecessary specialized formula use may make a significant contribution to free sugars consumption in young children.’
Dr Boyle argued the over-diagnosis ‘appears to have been fueled by formula industry marketing activities’.
Mother’s milk contains nutrients that protect babies against infections — and even cot death. It also reduces their risk of heart disease later in life.
Dr Boyle said: ‘While specialized formula is reasonably well tolerated by most infants, and supports nutrition and growth, there are significant differences from standard formula or human breast milk.
‘In specialized formula products, the lactose naturally present in breastmilk or cow’s milk is partially or completely replaced by alternative carbohydrate sources, often free sugars such as glucose or sucrose.
‘High free sugars intake is an important risk factor for obesity and dental decay and a major public health issue.
‘Thus, it’s conceivable unnecessary use of specialized formula may have important public health consequences that have not been studied to date.’
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