Jan. 17, 2024 – Limiting the amount of 100% fruit juice that children drink could be a way to help combat childhood obesity, particularly among young children, new research suggests.
The study was published this week in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The findings are important because past research has shown that children who are overweight or obese during childhood are likely to continue to remain so during adulthood. The authors of this latest study recommended limiting “consumption of fruit juice to prevent the intake of excess calories and weight gain.”
Led by researchers from the University of Toronto in Canada, the team looked at data from 42 past research studies, looking for links between drinking 100% fruit juice and weight gain in adults and in children. They also found evidence that drinking 100% fruit juice was connected with adult body weight gain but said more research is needed in the area. The researchers did find clear patterns between children’s juice intake and weight gain.
The 100% fruit juice in the study was defined as having no added sugar, and a serving was 8 ounces.
The researchers analyzed data for nearly 46,000 children ranging in age from 1 to 15 years old. They found that each additional serving of 100% fruit juice was linked to an increase in body mass index, which is a measure of height and weight used to determine whether someone is overweight or obese. Compared to whole fruit, juice contains little or no fiber and drinking it can result in not feeling full despite drinking a high number of calories, the authors noted.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not giving fruit juice to infants under 1 year old and limiting it to 4 ounces per day as part of a meal for toddlers and young children. Children between 1 and 6 years old should not drink more than 6 ounces per day, the group recommends.
“Fruit juice offers no nutritional benefits over whole fruit,” the Academy explains on its website for parents. "Whole fruits also provide fiber and other nutrients. Children should not be given fruit juice at bedtime. Also, juice should not be given to children as a treatment of dehydration or management of diarrhea.”
Health officials and researchers have sounded the alarm about childhood overweight and obesity in recent years, as 1 in 5 U.S. children ages 2 to 19 years old are medically obese. Having obesity puts children at risk of serious obesity-related health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, and joint problems, the CDC warns.
Children in this latest study gained more weight than children who drank zero-calorie beverages, like water, or when juice was intentionally added to a child’s daily intake and then compared to children with a normal diet. The biggest increase in BMI among children drinking fruit juice was seen among kids ages 8 years old and younger when compared to kids of the same age who drank other non-caloric beverages.
Types of juices that the children drank included pomegranate, berry, tart cherry, apple, citrus, and grape. The researchers didn’t find any differences in the impact on BMI based on the type of juice consumed. They said a potential cause of weight gain from drinking 100% fruit juice was “the consumption of liquid calories, which has been shown to result in greater weight gain compared with the ingestion of solid calories. Compared with whole fruit, 100% fruit juice contains less dietary fiber, leading to the rapid absorption of fructose in the liver.” They explained that this rapid absorption of naturally occurring sugar from fruits can impact how the liver works and can also influence cholesterol levels in the body.
“Our findings are in support of public health guidance to limit consumption of 100% fruit juice to prevent overweight and obesity,” the study authors concluded.
