And an article on juice...

[conuly]

I think the moral of this story is "water down your juice or don't drink it at all"

Doctors Say Kids Should Skip Juices
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 12:12 p.m. ET

Soda in a sippy cup? Most parents wouldn't dream of it. But researchers say that when a baby's bottle or cup is filled with juice -- even the 100 percent, all-natural, no-sugar-added stuff -- parents might as well be pouring Pepsi.

A growing body of science is linking sweet drinks, natural or otherwise, to a host of child health concerns, everything from bulging bellies to tooth decay.

``All of these beverages are largely the same. They are 100 percent sugar,'' Dr. David Ludwig, an expert on pediatric obesity at Children's Hospital Boston, said recently. ``Juice is only minimally better than soda.''

The trouble is that parents who are quick to limit a child's soft drink consumption often overlook or even encourage juice indulgence thanks to the beverage's good-for-you image.

But that image can be overstated. Though healthy in moderation, juice essentially is water and sugar. In fact, a 12-ounce bottle of grape soda has 159 calories. The same amount of unsweetened grape juice packs 228 calories.

The $10 billion juice industry maintains that a conclusive link between its products and obesity has yet to be established, but researchers say sugar is sugar, and sweet drinks of any kind must be consumed with care.

Overuse of juice is a relatively recent phenomenon. Before the rise of soda, juice and other sweetened drinks during the latter half of the 20th century, water and milk were children's primary beverages.

In a nation where nearly a third of children are either overweight or at risk of becoming overweight, health officials now say high-calorie beverages have little place in a young child's diet.

``With the possible exception of milk, children do not need any calorie containing beverages,'' Ludwig says. ``What is needed to replace fluid loss and satisfy thirst is the same beverage we've been drinking for millions of years, and that's water.''

The danger of juice is that too much can throw off the balance of calories and nutrients children need, according to Dr. Terrill Bravender, director of adolescent medicine at Duke University Medical Center.

In very young children, too much juice cuts the appetite for nutritionally superior breast milk or formula. In older children, it often supplements other foods, potentially adding hundreds of excess calories.

Part of the problem is that the calories in juice are so concentrated. Just half a cup (4 ounces) of apple juice has 60 calories, the same as a whole apple, but without the fiber that makes fruit filling.

In 2001, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued guidelines saying fruit juice should not be given to children younger than 6 months, and that there is no nutritional reason to give it to them before their first birthday.

After that, juice is optional, though the group favors whole produce and urges parents to limit juice to 4 to 6 ounces a day for children up to 6 years old, and to no more than 8 to 12 ounces for older children. Experts say pudgy children should avoid juice altogether.

Those guidelines concern the juice industry, which markets 6 3/4-ounce juice boxes and bags to kids. Children drink about a quarter of all juice consumed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Carol Freysinger, executive director of the Juice Products Association, says some producers have felt an impact since the pediatrics guidelines were released, but she wouldn't elaborate.

She is critical of doctors telling parents to eliminate juice, saying it gives a bad name to a healthy beverage and could prevent people from getting important nutrients juice offers.

Despite the guidelines, 60 percent of 1-year-olds drink juice, averaging 11 1/2 ounces a day, according to 2002 USDA data. That's up from 57 percent less than a decade before.

The USDA also found that more children younger than 1 are drinking juice, up from 35 percent to 39 percent, though they are drinking less of it.

While juice can be a healthy way to occasionally get picky children to consume more fruit, researchers say using it too often can exacerbate bad eating habits by training kids to prefer -- and hold out for -- something sweet.

Dr. William Dietz, with the division of nutrition and physical activity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says parents need to be firm -- thirst is satisfied with water, hunger with solid foods. Caloric beverages can blur that line.

Kimberly Kwitkiwski, a mother of twin 2-year-old girls, has found a middle ground. She is careful about her daughters' sugar intake, but since Jade and Jillian won't drink straight water, she spikes it with a few ounces of low-sugar juice.

Over the course of a day, the Hooksett, N.H., woman's children get only about 4 or 5 ounces of light juice.

Despite her vigilance, Kwitkiwski says it's easy to be confused by mixed messages, especially on product labels. She wonders how many parents realize ``no added sugar'' doesn't mean ``low sugar.''

Ludwig also is critical of juice marketing efforts, saying parents are easily misled into thinking they are making healthy choices. He was particularly critical of one bagged juice beverage's claim that it ``hydrates kids better than water.''

``This is an example of how children's diets can be perverted by the unbridled actions of the food industry when it places private profit ahead of public health,'' he says

Comments

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Too much *anything* is bad for you, geez. And other scientists tell us milk is bad for us! So there! :-P

Um, right. Should be doing hw. haha.

[conuly]

Milk is bad for you, once you're out of infancy.

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

::sigh:: Yes, I know.

[elfster.livejournal.com]

Heh milk was bad for me even in infancy. Despite the fact I was starving because I couldn't keep it down the nurses said I was being "naughty" and kept trying to give it to me... a premature, miserable new born being naughty?

[stejcruetekie.livejournal.com]

it is???

[literalgirl.livejournal.com]

What scares me about this is that I already see HOARDES of parents give their kids nasty diet soda all the time. Since my own mother was one of those Aspartame-sensitive people that the industry PRETENDS don't exist, I am particularly sensitive about exposing kids' growing neurobiological systems to those heavily modified, foreign substances.

My son has never been allowed to drink "diet" drinks. He can drink regular pop in moderation, no caffiene after 5pm on school nights, and that is that.

[conuly]

My dad had an insanely bad reaction to tab soda. Apparently. I never saw it growing up, not in stores or anywhere, but it was drilled into my head that Diet Soda Is Evil. I'm literally scared of that stuff because of my dad's insistance on telling us how horrible it is for you.

[literalgirl.livejournal.com]

Sounds like me. I was so (prolly inappropriately)proud of my son when, at about 5 years old, he woud decline diet pop with a comment like, "No thanks, It has bad chemicals!"

Hee hee. :-)

[the-turtle-girl.livejournal.com]

Ya know, if some of these parents would try supplimenting some of this juice with water, and not just watering down the juice, it would probably do a world of good. I never watered down my kids' juice and still don't. But I don't give them more than 6 ounces of juice in a day. Period. They drink water between meals. And they have all their teeth and both are in about the 50th percentile for their weight. Hmmmmm.

[demonkoala.livejournal.com]

What's even worse is it isn't sugar, but high fructose corn syrup...even worse on the pudgy making.
I see nothing wrong with water...

[spankmepink.livejournal.com]

We don't really do sugar, so that part doesn't bother me, but I'm a little appalled at the idea of counting calories for toddlers. It just seems sort of sick to me to start watching my kid's weight that early. And the idea that empty calories are better than higher calories that aren't sugar laden really makes my brain ache.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

And the idea that empty calories are better than higher calories that aren't sugar laden really makes my brain ache.

I'm not sure what you're talking about here...? Are you talking about the soda vs. juice comparison? If so, I think their point is, soda bad, juice no better. And as far as watching a toddlers weight, due to many reasons (likely including the many parents who do give their kids soda at that young age, as well as juice, and other factors such as TV replacing playing tag) the unfortunate fact is the many toddlers in the US are already on their way to being overweight. I can pull some links for you tomorrrow if you like.

[spankmepink.livejournal.com]

I'm aware. I used to be overweight and I still don't think it's healthy for my daughter for me to start monitoring my kid's image at this age. What I mean is that I don't think it's good for her to think that weight is important and that size is everything. Health and weight aren't always the same.
Of course, it's surprising to me to start that parents need to be told that sugar in large amounts can cause weight gain and tooth decay.

I hope this doesn't sound brusque. I certainly don't mean it that way.

[leora.livejournal.com]

And yet many parents don't monitor soda intake and some will even fill a sippy cup with soda. I think comparing juice to soda is unfair. Soda has many other problems besides just the calorie content. However, making sure your kids have the right balance of stuff is a good idea.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

but since Jade and Jillian won't drink straight water

I have NEVER understood a statement like this. Seriously, you're telling me that your kid had breastmilk, started solids eventually, and just NEVER would drink the water you offered him with his oatmeal? I mean, Ana didn't take to water right away either - she didn't take to FOOD right away, it doesn't mean we gave up and said "Oh, she just won't drink water." And breastmilk is plenty sweet. She loves her milk and likes water too. I just don't get it. *le sigh*

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

Too much *anything* is bad for you, geez. And other scientists tell us milk is bad for us! So there! :-P

Um, right. Should be doing hw. haha.

[conuly]

Milk is bad for you, once you're out of infancy.

[literalgirl.livejournal.com]

What scares me about this is that I already see HOARDES of parents give their kids nasty diet soda all the time. Since my own mother was one of those Aspartame-sensitive people that the industry PRETENDS don't exist, I am particularly sensitive about exposing kids' growing neurobiological systems to those heavily modified, foreign substances.

My son has never been allowed to drink "diet" drinks. He can drink regular pop in moderation, no caffiene after 5pm on school nights, and that is that.

[conuly]

My dad had an insanely bad reaction to tab soda. Apparently. I never saw it growing up, not in stores or anywhere, but it was drilled into my head that Diet Soda Is Evil. I'm literally scared of that stuff because of my dad's insistance on telling us how horrible it is for you.

[the-turtle-girl.livejournal.com]

Ya know, if some of these parents would try supplimenting some of this juice with water, and not just watering down the juice, it would probably do a world of good. I never watered down my kids' juice and still don't. But I don't give them more than 6 ounces of juice in a day. Period. They drink water between meals. And they have all their teeth and both are in about the 50th percentile for their weight. Hmmmmm.

[demonkoala.livejournal.com]

What's even worse is it isn't sugar, but high fructose corn syrup...even worse on the pudgy making.
I see nothing wrong with water...

[spankmepink.livejournal.com]

We don't really do sugar, so that part doesn't bother me, but I'm a little appalled at the idea of counting calories for toddlers. It just seems sort of sick to me to start watching my kid's weight that early. And the idea that empty calories are better than higher calories that aren't sugar laden really makes my brain ache.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

And the idea that empty calories are better than higher calories that aren't sugar laden really makes my brain ache.

I'm not sure what you're talking about here...? Are you talking about the soda vs. juice comparison? If so, I think their point is, soda bad, juice no better. And as far as watching a toddlers weight, due to many reasons (likely including the many parents who do give their kids soda at that young age, as well as juice, and other factors such as TV replacing playing tag) the unfortunate fact is the many toddlers in the US are already on their way to being overweight. I can pull some links for you tomorrrow if you like.

[leora.livejournal.com]

And yet many parents don't monitor soda intake and some will even fill a sippy cup with soda. I think comparing juice to soda is unfair. Soda has many other problems besides just the calorie content. However, making sure your kids have the right balance of stuff is a good idea.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

but since Jade and Jillian won't drink straight water

I have NEVER understood a statement like this. Seriously, you're telling me that your kid had breastmilk, started solids eventually, and just NEVER would drink the water you offered him with his oatmeal? I mean, Ana didn't take to water right away either - she didn't take to FOOD right away, it doesn't mean we gave up and said "Oh, she just won't drink water." And breastmilk is plenty sweet. She loves her milk and likes water too. I just don't get it. *le sigh*