New ATNi study finds four out of five young children in Kenya are consuming commercial foods
29 October 202629 October 2026 — ATNi (Access to Nutrition initiative) today released the Healthy Starts 2026 report, providing new evidence on the growing role of commercial foods in the diets of young children aged 6-36 months in Kenya and highlighting opportunities to improve nutrition during the critical first years of life.
The study combines dietary recalls from 632 caregivers in Nairobi and Makueni counties, interviews with caregivers and healthcare professionals, an assessment of 87 commercial complementary food (CCF) products, and interviews with Kenyan food companies.
Read the Healthy Starts 2026 report
Why does this matter?
Understanding the role of commercial foods in young children’s diets in Kenya can help identify gaps and opportunities to strengthen nutrition policies, improve commercial food products, and promote healthier food environments. The goal is healthier diets at scale and a reduction in malnutrition in all its forms for children in Kenya, and globally.
What were the key findings?
The study found that around 80% of children aged 6-36 months consume commercial foods, including packaged products and foods prepared outside the home. While home-prepared foods continue to provide most dietary energy and nutrients, commercial foods increasingly contribute to children’s energy intake as they grow older, with higher contributions observed among lower-income households. Commercial foods were generally perceived positively by caregivers in terms of convenience, healthiness, and nutritional value.
Learn more about the Key Findings
The research also identified important nutritional challenges. Although children generally met their energy needs, protein and fat intake remained inadequate from complementary foods across age groups. Qualitative findings suggest these gaps are influenced by affordability constraints and feeding practices. More than 60% of children consumed sweet, salty, or fried foods and beverages with commercial foods representing the main source of these foods, particularly among children aged 12-36 months. Notably, most commercial foods consumed were not CCFs—products specifically marketed for infant and young child feeding—highlighting the need to look beyond CCFs alone when considering young children’s food environments.
The assessment of 87 CCF products found that:
- Only 46% met all WHO nutrient composition requirements.
- The majority met fat (100%), protein (91%), and sodium (85%) requirements.
- 59% would require a high-sugar front-of-pack warning label.
- 95% had at least one nutrition claim, such as “no added sugar”
- None met all WHO labelling requirements.
- 53% of global companies’ CCF met all WHO nutrient composition requirements, whereas none of the local or regional CCF assessed did.
A call to action
The findings highlight the potential of appropriately formulated, fortified, and responsibly marketed CCFs, to contribute to improved child nutrition, alongside healthy traditional home-prepared foods and continued breastfeeding, but significant improvements are needed across the sector. To achieve this, ATNi is calling for coordinated action by policymakers, food manufacturers, investors, development partners and civil society organisations to:
- Improve products’ nutritional quality and reduce sugar content.
- Strengthen labelling requirements and ensure marketing and product messaging support, rather than undermine breastfeeding and healthy complementary feeding practices.
- Strengthen and enforce Kenya’s complementary food regulations in line with relevant WHO recommendations.
- Support local manufacturers through technical assistance and access to finance to produce affordable, nutrient-dense foods.
- Promote healthy feeding practices and healthier food environments for young children.