Do your kids drink juice?

[KristyDarling]

My son (6) hates any and all juices, so he usually just drinks milk and water.

My daughter (4) looooves juice but doesn't often crave it, so she's happy with milk and water. If she asks for juice -- about once a week -- I give her a small cup of diluted AJ or OJ and present it as a special treat. I figure she has the rest of her life to get addicted to sweet beverages so my philosophy right now is not to deny it and make it taboo, but I don't encourage it either.

 

[ice-queen]

I''m not a mom, but I found this thread interesting because I always thought juice for kids would be considered a good thing (all things in moderation, of course). What is the problem- the added sugar? What about fresh-squeezed natural juices then? Seems like a healthy option- no different than fresh fruit, right? Or is that still an issue?

 

[Jas12]

Ice-queen--yes, mostly it is the sugar and addititives (like dyes or preservatives) that are the ''bad'' things in juice, so a fresh squeezed or 100% fruit juice is not as bad as far as that goes, but there are some other things to consider as well...
1) kids who drink lots of juice often develop a preference for sweet drinks and will refuse plain water (which is just a bad habit and can lead to problems as they grow and don''t burn off all those calories they drink or, worse, risk deydration b/c they aren''t getting enough plain ol water
2) many kids fall asleep with a bottle--juice (even the pure stuff) will damage teeth either b/c of the fruit acid, or the sugar. And brushing a toddler''s teeth is hard at the best of times so it''s best to limit sugary acidic stuff that saturates the mouth (IMO)
3) kids that consume too many empty cavities via juice don''t eat as much solid food and miss out on the fibre, fat, additional vitamins etc. of a whole food.
So yes, everything in moderation. A few times I put a splash of pure apple juice or squeezed a few juicy grapes into my son''s water when i started partial weaning. Breast milk is quite sweet so he didn''t take to water very well. Over the months i stopped doing this and now he drinks water perfectly. Now, if only i could get MIL fully on board...

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 7/17/2009 3:50:34 AM
Author: ice-queen
I''m not a mom, but I found this thread interesting because I always thought juice for kids would be considered a good thing (all things in moderation, of course). What is the problem- the added sugar? What about fresh-squeezed natural juices then? Seems like a healthy option- no different than fresh fruit, right? Or is that still an issue?

Nope, there is a difference.

Try squeezing only one orange and see how much juice you get. Not a lot. Fresh fruit juice has a LOT of calories.

It also still has a lot of sugar. Having OJ or apple juice is not the same as eating an orange or apple. There''s a lot that doesn''t make it into the juice.

 

[steph72276]

I let my 4 year old have a maximum of 1 cup a day (heavily diluted with water), and I let him have it as a special treat when we go out to eat, but I guess I am lucky because he almost always asks for water. Trying to get him to drink enough milk is a pain though, he has never really liked it. This works well for us, he just went to the dentist and no cavities at all.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 7/17/2009 12:48:07 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 7/17/2009 3:50:34 AM
Author: ice-queen
I''m not a mom, but I found this thread interesting because I always thought juice for kids would be considered a good thing (all things in moderation, of course). What is the problem- the added sugar? What about fresh-squeezed natural juices then? Seems like a healthy option- no different than fresh fruit, right? Or is that still an issue?

Nope, there is a difference.

Try squeezing only one orange and see how much juice you get. Not a lot. Fresh fruit juice has a LOT of calories.

It also still has a lot of sugar. Having OJ or apple juice is not the same as eating an orange or apple. There''s a lot that doesn''t make it into the juice.

Not sure if anyone mentioned this. . .but one of the significant differences between juice and an actual piece of fruit is that when you eat fruit with the skin - like an apple or strawberries, you''re getting the fiber from that. Much healthier than juice.

 

[swingirl]

Juice is concentrated and full of sugar. Who needs that in their diet? A glass of orange juice is comparable to about 8 oranges and who, at one sitting, eats 8 oranges? Juice is being marketed to parents who think their kids need more fruit in their diet. Freshly squeezed juice still has the same amount of sugar that the fruit has.

1 apple 65 calories 3.0gms fiber 13.0gm sugar
1 cup apple juice 117 calories 0.2gm fiber 27.0gm sugar

The juice has twice the calories, twice the sugar, zippo on fiber. If you are thirsty it''d be better to drink an glass of water and eat an apple.

Just an interesting thought--I''ve wondered why kids are so fat today. When I think back of my elementary school (1950-60''s) we had 2 fat kids. None of us were hungry or from poor families. We all ate breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. We did eat out although not very often. We had desserts (every night and our school hot lunches always had dessert), whole milk, Sunday dinners with lots of butter and gravy. You get the picture. What we didn''t get was empty calories like juice and crackers. We also were not bombarded with food commercials on TV. We didn''t eat snacks in school, no juice boxes to suck on, and no granola bars for extra energy between meals. And you got to believe me when I tell you we were not hungry, deprived, or lacking energy.

 

[steph72276]

Date: 7/17/2009 3:05:35 PM
Author: swingirl
Juice is concentrated and full of sugar. Who needs that in their diet? A glass of orange juice is comparable to about 8 oranges and who, at one sitting, eats 8 oranges? Juice is being marketed to parents who think their kids need more fruit in their diet. Freshly squeezed juice still has the same amount of sugar that the fruit has.


1 apple 65 calories 3.0gms fiber 13.0gm sugar

1 cup apple juice 117 calories 0.2gm fiber 27.0gm sugar


The juice has twice the calories, twice the sugar, zippo on fiber. If you are thirsty it''d be better to drink an glass of water and eat an apple.


Just an interesting thought--I''ve wondered why kids are so fat today. When I think back of my elementary school (1950-60''s) we had 2 fat kids. None of us were hungry or from poor families. We all ate breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. We did eat out although not very often. We had desserts (every night and our school hot lunches always had dessert), whole milk, Sunday dinners with lots of butter and gravy. You get the picture. What we didn''t get was empty calories like juice and crackers. We also were not bombarded with food commercials on TV. We didn''t eat snacks in school, no juice boxes to suck on, and no granola bars for extra energy between meals. And you got to believe me when I tell you we were not hungry, deprived, or lacking energy.

Juice might be a small factor in why children are so overweight, but I think it is mainly due to the fact that most kids come in from school and sit in front of the TV or play video games until bed time. The fact is, it is just not safe to do what our parents did and say, "have fun outside playing with your friends, be home for dinner!" To have your kids be active these days takes a lot of planning on the part of parents to sign them up for organized sports, take them swimming, do family bike rides around the neighborhood, walk the dog together, etc. My son drinks juice and he is right in the 50th percentile for weight and on the higher end for height. But I do make sure he gets a balanced diet and do the above for exercise.

 

[swingirl]

Date: 7/17/2009 5:38:31 PM
Author: steph72276

Date: 7/17/2009 3:05:35 PM

Author: swingirl

Juice is concentrated and full of sugar. Who needs that in their diet? A glass of orange juice is comparable to about 8 oranges and who, at one sitting, eats 8 oranges? Juice is being marketed to parents who think their kids need more fruit in their diet. Freshly squeezed juice still has the same amount of sugar that the fruit has.

1 apple 65 calories 3.0gms fiber 13.0gm sugar
1 cup apple juice 117 calories 0.2gm fiber 27.0gm sugar

The juice has twice the calories, twice the sugar, zippo on fiber. If you are thirsty it''d be better to drink an glass of water and eat an apple.

Just an interesting thought--I''ve wondered why kids are so fat today. When I think back of my elementary school (1950-60''s) we had 2 fat kids. None of us were hungry or from poor families. We all ate breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. We did eat out although not very often. We had desserts (every night and our school hot lunches always had dessert), whole milk, Sunday dinners with lots of butter and gravy. You get the picture. What we didn''t get was empty calories like juice and crackers. We also were not bombarded with food commercials on TV. We didn''t eat snacks in school, no juice boxes to suck on, and no granola bars for extra energy between meals. And you got to believe me when I tell you we were not hungry, deprived, or lacking energy.

Juice might be a small factor in why children are so overweight, but I think it is mainly due to the fact that most kids come in from school and sit in front of the TV or play video games until bed time. The fact is, it is just not safe to do what our parents did and say, ''have fun outside playing with your friends, be home for dinner!'' To have your kids be active these days takes a lot of planning on the part of parents to sign them up for organized sports, take them swimming, do family bike rides around the neighborhood, walk the dog together, etc. My son drinks juice and he is right in the 50th percentile for weight and on the higher end for height. But I do make sure he gets a balanced diet and do the above for exercise.

Juice certainly isn''t a big factor in today''s overweight kids but I think it encourages empty calorie consumption. And on the subject of excercise, lots of kids played outside in the 50s and 60s but we played in our backyards. We roller skated, played basketball and jumped rope in a very small amount of space, the same amount of space kids have today in their backyards. And some kids didn''t play outdoors. There were those who loved to read, draw, watch TV and stay inside all the time. They weren''t fat. People who didn''t grow up back then think everyone was allowed to play outside unsupervised all day. It wasn''t like that. There were slugs back then, too.

But the bigger problem with juice is the way it spikes your insulin.

 

[VegasAngel]

My daughter gets a small amount of o.j. with her vitamin, she never finishes it. My MIL gives her juice which irritates me as I asked her not to, I feel that she does it to spite me. When MIL does it or great grandma tries to load her up on candy I ask them if they are going to pay her dental bills.

At my house she drinks only water & milk with her meals-that is it.