Why You Shouldn't Be Giving Your Kids All Of The Juice

Experts are now calling for parents to avoid giving juice to babies before their first birthday — and to seriously limit intake among older children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which recently released new fruit-juice guidelines in the online journal Pediatrics.

• Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefits for infants younger than 1 year.

• Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefits over whole fruit for infants and children and has no essential role in healthy, balanced diets of children.

• One hundred percent fresh or reconstituted fruit juice can be a healthy part of the diet of children older than 1 year when consumed as part of a well-balanced diet. Fruit drinks, however, are not nutritionally equivalent to fruit juice.

• Juice is not appropriate in the treatment of dehydration or the management of diarrhea.

• Excessive juice consumption may be associated with malnutrition (overnutrition and undernutrition).

• Excessive juice consumption is associated with diarrhea, flatulence, abdominal distention, and tooth decay.

• Unpasteurized juice products may contain pathogens that can cause serious illnesses and should be given to children cautiously, if at all.

• A variety of fruit juices, provided in appropriate amounts for a child’s age, are not likely to cause any significant clinical symptoms.

• Calcium-fortified juices provide a bioavailable source of calcium and often vitamin D but lack other nutrients present in human milk, infant formula, or cow milk.

How Much Fruit Juice Is Healthy for Kids?

For infants (<1 year old): None, unless your pediatrician recommends it for something like constipation.

For toddlers (ages 1 to 3): Cap it at 4 ounces of juice per day, served in a cup, not a bottle. (Nursing a bottle of fruit juice can prolong sugar exposure, which could lead to cavities.)

For young kids (ages 4 to 6): No more than 4 to 6 ounces per day, although whole fruit is preferable.

For older kids (ages 7 to 18): No more than 1 cup a day — but again, the first choice should be fruit.

Source: Pediatrics

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