THE SPHERE OF CHILD NUTRITION IN UKRAINE: PROBLEM ISSUES OF DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This article identifies problematic issues in the development of children's nutrition in Ukraine. It is noted that at the current stage of development, the field of baby food in Ukraine faces a number of urgent problems that inhibit its development: 1) the relevance of the necessary volumes of production and circulation of baby food in Ukraine, which is determined by the birth rate, statistical data on the number of end consumers; 2) economic conditions for the development of enterprises producing baby food in Ukraine; 3) effective regulatory and legal regulation of the field of child nutrition, in particular, compliance of existing regulatory and legal acts with the norms and standards of the European Union; 4) ineffective state policy in the field of child nutrition: lack of effective development programs in the field of child nutrition; lack of systematized and systematic measures of public administration entities to promote development and state support of baby food manufacturers, etc. Attention is drawn to the fact that the negative dynamics of the birth rate contributes to the decrease in the production of baby food, because there is a decline in demand. At the same time, small production volumes cause production processes to become more expensive, which results in an increase in the price of baby food, or manufacturers start looking for cheaper baby food ingredients in order to reduce the cost price. However, under such conditions, the end consumer suffers. It was noted that baby food products are highly rated and in demand on the European market. However, the export of baby food to a greater extent contributes not to the development of the field of baby food, but to the obtaining of their own benefit to the manufacturers of baby food. It is noted that an effective state policy provides an opportunity to promote the development of domestic baby food enterprises, which will have only positive aspects: providing children with healthy and balanced baby food; tax revenues of the state budget; additional workplaces at enterprises, etc. The issue of effective state policy in the field of child nutrition in the war and post-war period is especially relevant.