Spin-Off- Why is juice a no-no?

[kayte]

I have actually been meaning to address this earlier when I saw a post about a peditrician saying no juice to someone and they were looking for Tea recipes... So why is juice an issue? My DD (who is 15 months) drinks milk or watered down juice (very rarely she has a sippy cup of water). We don't drink any type of coke, kool-aid type things or coffee so water, milk and juice(also watered down) is all my DH and I drink too. So I am curious why someone would chose to be juice-free and why a pediatrician would advise against it too. Thanks for your help.

[Emmas Mom]

With the exception of OJ, our pediatrican sees juice as nothing but empty calories & unnecessary sugar that kids don't need. I give my 3.5 year old OJ every day & occasionally (every 2-3 days I'd say) very watered down 100% white grape juice. Our little one gets about an ounce of white grape juice mixed with 3 oz. of water every day because she has to take a laxative & won't do it if it's mixed in milk. We're not anti juice by any means but we definitely give it to the girls in moderation. But that's just us, to each his/her own. :)

[Fairy]

Well, juice is very sweet, and that's cuz it's very sugar. Natural sugar (if it's 100% juice), but sugar, nonetheless. One of the issues is that given a choice between flavorless water or even sometimes milk, or sweet juice, they're gonna generally go for the juice, and not want to have the water or milk. That adds alot of calories every day, and it's bad for their teeth, even if you're a good brusher. So, that's the major thing for me. As for the empty calories, yeah, that, too. The nutrients they get on a daily basis from juice are far outweighed for me by the calories that are broken down as nothing but fructose sugar.

We do only water and milk in the house unless he's sick or something (he will drink the electrolyte stuff, but I can't stand those drinks. So, when sick, he gets pedialyte or whatever). When in a restaurant, we water down the heck outta juice, usually apple juice, tho sometimes lemonade.

[SnuggleBuggles]

The AAP wrote a policy statement on juice back in 2001 (not sure if it has been updated or revised...I don't think it has). This is the policy statement and it is a pretty easy read. The highlights are this section but the rest is worth a read:

CONCLUSIONS
-Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefit for infants younger than 6 months.
-Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefits over whole fruit for infants older than 6 months and children.
-One hundred percent fruit juice or reconstituted juice can be a healthy part of the diet 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 management of diarrhea.
-Excessive juice consumption may be associated with malnutrition (overnutrition and undernutrition).
-Excessive juice consumption may be associated with diarrhea, flatulence, abdominal distention, and tooth decay.
-Unpasteurized juice may contain pathogens that can cause serious illnesses.
-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 but lack other nutrients present in breast milk, formula, or cow's milk.

RECOMMENDATIONS


-Juice should not be introduced into the diet of infants before 6 months of age.
-Infants should not be given juice from bottles or easily transportable covered cups that allow them to consume juice easily throughout the day. Infants should not be given juice at bedtime.
-Intake of fruit juice should be limited to 4 to 6 oz/d for children 1 to 6 years old. For children 7 to 18 years old, juice intake should be limited to 8 to 12 oz or 2 servings per day.
-Children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits to meet their recommended daily fruit intake.
-Infants, children, and adolescents should not consume unpasteurized juice.
-In the evaluation of children with malnutrition (overnutrition and undernutrition), the health care provider should determine the amount of juice being consumed.
-In the evaluation of children with chronic diarrhea, excessive flatulence, abdominal pain, and bloating, the health care provider should determine the amount of juice being consumed.
-In the evaluation of dental caries, the amount and means of juice consumption should be determined.
-Pediatricians should routinely discuss the use of fruit juice and fruit drinks and should educate parents about differences between the two.
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;107/5/1210

HTH,
Beth

[kijip]

It is the sugar of fruit without the fiber of fruit. So it is pure, straight-up sugar even if it is 100% fresh squeezed juice. I don't see it as a problem in moderation but I don't want it as a signifgant portion of my son's diet. I actually drink less juice than I used to and it has really helped me keep my weight down.

[o_mom]

Ditto to the PPs - it is basically liquid sugar and I don't want them getting a taste for it. It it bad enough that I have to have my caffinated soda everyday - I don't want them picking up that habit until they are old enough to exercise some judgement.

For us, at this age, it is easier to be completely juice free (well 99%) than to try and regulate it. Kind of like TV. It is harder to enforce a limit of "1 show" or "30 minutes" than to just not have it on at all.

DS1 will drink 'tea' occasionally - herbal peach tea that is half milk. Kind of like flavored milk without the sugar.

[miki]

Left to her own choice, my DD would always pick juice. She gets calcium fortified OJ at home because she has never liked milk and eats enough meat that I am not worried about her missing fat and protein from dairy. But other than that, I agree with the PPs that juice is just a lot of sugar.

I try to encourage water as a beverage. Where we live summers are extremely hot and humid and it's much better to hydrate with water than juice. I even get a fruit flavored but unsweetened water (www.drinkhint.com) for her to encourage her to drink more water.

[egoldber]

I was hard core anti-juice for all the PP reasons. Until I needed DD to drink it and she wouldn't LOL!! It seriously took me 6 months of hard core effort to get her to drink appple juice. Apple juice is still the only juice she will drink and she by FAR prefers water and milk, so there isn't a hard and fast rule that your kid will prefer juice to other beverages. To prevent this "problem" with Amy, I plan, at an appropriate age, so offer her lots of different kinds of juice, in small, watered down amounts, as part of an overall well balanced diet. :)

That being said, in the absence of particular issues (like chronic constipation) I see no reason to offer juice to a child under 1 or to offer it undiluted in a huge sippy. Those are two of the big issues that I see with juice.

[DrSally]

I've heard juice referred to as "liquid candy" b/c even fructose is a simple sugar, and you don't get the fiber from whole fruit. Also, I think some are concerned about it sitting on the teeth.

ETA: DS doesn't like it, but I see no prob with diluted 100% juice on occassion.

[KrisM]

Me too. DS really still does not like juice. I wish he did a bit, because he also won't touch Pedialite when he's sick.

[emily_gracesmama]

I was and am pretty anti-juice, but Emily has awful constipation and doc recommended pear juice for it, says the sugar draws water into the intestines to make it easier to go, so we try to get it in her once a day. Very luckily she ask for milk or water so I usually have to suggest the juice. If she doesn't drink it she'll easily go several days and then it's horrible going for her. I am mainly concerned about the empty calories and the overweight children issues I've heard about with the juice drinking.