Is Too Much Juice Bad For Kids?
By Brenda C. Coleman
The Associated Press
CHICAGO Drinking more than a cup and a half of fruit juice a day
may make preschoolers fat or stunt their growth, a study suggests.
No single juice was implicated in the study of 168 healthy youngsters,
but the ones who drank more than 12 ounces a day tended to be shorter
or fatter than other preschoolers. The findings, published yesterday
in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, suggested that
preschoolers who fill up on juice may be getting too much sugar or
missing out on more nutritious foods.
"Until other studies prove other wise, it seems prudent for parents
and caretakers to limit young children's consumption of fruit juice
to less than 12 fluid ounces a day," the researchers said in the
journal, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The researchers looked at 94 2-year-olds and 74 5-year-olds
in Schoharie County in rural upstate New York. Thirty-nine percent of
the youngsters drank mixed juice, mostly a vitamin-fortified brand
called Juicy Juice. Thirty percent drank apple juice, 23 percent
orange juice and 7 percent grape juice. "Children's diets,
like adults', should be balanced", said the study's lead author, Dr.
Barbara Dennison a pediatrician at the Mary Imogone Bassett Research
Institute in Cooperstown. "Just like you can get too much fat, you can
get too much juice."
Federal guidelines for preschoolers suggest two servings of fruit every day, Dennison said.
"One can be juice, but one should probably be a fruit that you actually eat," she said. A
serving of fruit juice is 6 ounces. The study did not track children beyond age 5 to see what
their height and weight would be as adults.
The weight differences were not as easy to compare because researchers measured heaviness in
terms of body mass-weight relative to height. But Dennison said children who drank more than 12
ounces of juice a day were more than three times as likely to be overweight, defined as having
a greater body mass than that of 90 percent of youngsters in their age group. A spokeswoman for
an organization of food processors noted the study does not establish cause and effect, which
even the authors acknowledge. "There are other factors and other considerations that need to be
addressed for example, the activity level of the child," said Rhona Applebaum, executive vice
president for scientific and regulatory affairs at the National Food Processors Assosiation She
said that the study should not be used to limit children's juice intake and that that parents
should consult their pediatrician. "The universal recommendation that we endorse is balance,
variety and moderation," Applebaum said.
toll free 1-888-765-HERB
Denver area 303-421-9900
[Home] [Email] [Security]
