We know fruit juice can be a delicious and convenient addition to your child’s snack. Unfortunately, drinking fruit juice is not as nutritious as eating fruit. When in doubt, it’s important to provide your child with cut up fruit.
What’s so bad about fruit juice?
We often think that since fruit juice has the name fruit in it, it’s made from exclusively fruit, which is far from the truth. Fruit juice comes with high levels of sugar and enamel-damaging acids, which aren’t very healthy for your teeth. Here are some other issues with fruit juice.
- Can cause cavities
- Can cause weight gain
- Can cause diarrhea when too much is drank
- Can cause unhealthy weight loss
What does the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Recommend?
The official AAP recommends the following servings when considering fruit juice.
- Younger than 12 months: Do not routinely give fruit juice since it offers no nutritional benefit at this age
- 1-3 years: Limit fruit juice to a maximum of 4 oz/day (1/2 cup)
- 4-6 years: Limit fruit juice to a maximum of 4-6 oz/day (1/2 cup to 3/4 cup)
- 7-18 years: Limit juice to 8oz/day (1 cup)
What should you do?
We highly recommend just serving fruit slices instead of fruit juice to your child. You can even mix it up with cute plating, such as creating smiley patterns.
If you do choose to serve your child fruit juice, look for the labels that indicate the juice to be made from 100% juice with no preservatives or additives. Make sure to follow the AAP’s recommendations from above.
