How much juice should your kids really be drinking?
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While juice can be nutritious, excess sugar consumption whether through sweets or sweet drinks is not optimal.
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- How much juice should your kids really be drinking?
(Sticky) hands up who had family-sized cans of pineapple juice in the pantry when they were growing up? The sweet nectar may have underpinned a generation’s post-school snack times, but how much should we be consuming?
The fact is that while fruit juice can be nutritious– some contain a similar amount of sugar and kilojoules to sugary soft drinks.
If you’ve ever made a fresh juice, you’ll have some idea why. While children only need half an orange to meet their daily vitamin C requirements, it takes about four whole oranges to make one small glass of orange juice – more than our recommended sugar intake.
The problem with sugar
Drinking too many sugary drinks exposes kids to the ‘habit’ of drinking sweet drinks.
The other thing to know is that whole fruit contains a lot of fibre, the good stuff that keeps blood sugar levels stable and bowels in good working order. Juicing fruit typically removes most of that fibre.
As a result, a study performed by scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health not only found that people who ate at least two servings each week of whole fruits had healthier blood sugar levels than those who ate less than one serving per month, they also found that swapping three serves of juice per week for whole fruits had positive effects on blood sugar metabolism.
How much juice is too much?
If you choose to include juice as part of your child’s diet, the guidelines suggest limiting intake to half-a-cup, or 125ml, of no-added-sugar juice, only occasionally.Importantly, remember that children don’t need fruit or vegetable juice to have a balanced and healthy diet .
So what’s the alternative to juice?
Encouraging children to eat and enjoy whole pieces of fruit or vegetables is important, but as far as drinks are concerned, swapping fruit juice for plain water is best.
If your child is used to sweeter drinks, take steps to gradually reduce their intake over time, by providing watered-down versions of their favourite fruit juices when they’re thirsty, before eventually moving onto plain water.
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