Pfizer Nutrition has announced the launch of its new advanced Gold range of child nutrition products that have been specially developed to meet the changing feeding needs of young children.

The Gold range of infant and follow-on formulas, as well as its new growing-up milk, provides the right balance of high-quality nutrients needed to support the optimal health and development of growing children, said a statement from Pfizer.

For 2010, there were approximately 43 million children across the world under the age of five who were overweight.  Proper nutrition means receiving an optimal balance of nutrients and receiving too much of a particular nutrient as well as too little can negatively impact on long-term health outcomes.

Pfizer nutrition products have been redesigned to reflect the latest recommendations from leading nutritional experts.

NOURISH (KNOwledge, UndeRstanding & InsightS Into CHild Nutrition) survey and a separate Middle East focused study, a global survey of 1,203 health care professionals (HCPs) in 12 countries (including Egypt and Saudi Arabia) was designed to uncover perceptions and attitudes of paediatric and other HCPs toward early childhood nutrition.

It aslo helped identify the global need for professional education regarding the appropriate balance of nutrition for optimal growth and development of infants and young children.

Nutrition in early childhood is crucial to life-long health and well-being, and the current scientific consensus is that a lean baby is a healthier baby. However, HCPs in the Middle East reported that the majority of their patients’ parents do not understand either of these concepts.

About 46 per cent of HCPs in the Middle East believed that parents understand at least “well” that a lean baby is healthier baby.3, 4 HCPs in Egypt reported some of the lowest levels of parental understanding in the survey, with 62 percent respondents stating that parents did not understand this concept either “very well” or “at all.”

“Important research has demonstrated that excessive intake of dietary protein may contribute to unhealthy weight gain in early childhood,” said Dr Mohamed Abdel Khalek, medical director, Pfizer Nutrition, Africa & Middle East.

“Nutrition is an evolving science, which is why we have recently reformulated our Gold range to achieve a more optimal balance of nutrients. For example, we have reduced protein levels in our growing up milk to support an appropriate rate of weight gain for children,” he noted.

In conjunction with its mission of developing nutritional products which deliver an optimal combination of nutrients carefully balanced to manage children’s nutritional intake and optimise growth and health outcomes, Pfizer Nutrition sponsored two studies - the NOURISH survey and a separate Middle East focused study, which was commissioned by YouGov Siraj.-TradeArabia News Service