Health & Parenting

Tools & Resources

This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive

Font Size

Putting the Squeeze on Juice

WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD

When you hear the phrase "All things in moderation," fruit juice probably doesn't come to mind, but most pediatricians caution parents that allowing kids to drink excessive amounts of juice is a recipe for poor health.

Studies over the past decade have shown a host of potential problems with fruit juice consumption in children, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Nutrition even issued a policy statement in 1991 telling doctors to caution parents about the dangers.

Recommended Related to Parenting

4 Keys to Building a Happy Family

By Jeannie Kim

Read the 4 Keys to Building a Happy Family article > >

The Dangers of Excess Juice

Juices fill kids with empty calories. "Fruit juices can fill kids up so that they're not hungry at the dinner table and are too full to eat more nutritious foods," warns Carlos Lifschitz, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
Certain juices are associated with tummy troubles. Some fruit juices -- including apple, pear, and prune -- contain sorbitol, a naturally occurring but problematic sugar alcohol. Because sorbitol is not completely absorbed in the small bowel, it makes its way to the large bowel where it ferments and produces gas, says Lifschitz. In addition, many of the juices that contain sorbitol also have an imbalance in the ratio of the sugars fructose and glucose, which may reduce fructose absorption. These factors can lead to cramps, diarrhea, or loss of appetite in a child, says Lifschitz.
Several studies have reported this malabsorption, or incomplete digestion, including a study published in the October 1999 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. In the study, researchers gave infants either pear juice, which contains sorbitol and a "bad" fructose to glucose ratio, or white grape juice, which contains no sorbitol and has a "good" fructose to glucose ratio. The infants drank between 90 and 120 milliliters (between .4 and .5 cups). Researchers found signs of malabsorption in five of the seven infants given pear juice, as compared to only two of the seven who drank grape juice. The authors recommended giving children only non-sorbitol juices (for example, grape and citrus).
Unpasteurized juices may contain the Salmonella organism. The Food and Drug Administration issued a nationwide alert to consumers in July 1999 warning of a Salmonella muenchen outbreak due to contaminated unpasteurized juice; the juice had labels identifying it as "freshly squeezed" or "fresh." The Salmonella organism can cause serious and even fatal infections in young children. To stay safe, buy pasteurized juice for children.

How Much Is Too Much?

All that said, kids love juice, and a little bit each day is fine. Lifschitz recommends no more than one ounce daily per three pounds of body weight, or about 1.2 cups for the average two year old and 1.8 cups for a five year old.

1 | 2

Next Page >