The hidden sugars in fruit juices are the issue. They offer zero nutritional value as real fruit does. When introducing your baby to different food groups begin with pureed fruit, then introduce real fruit. Parents may not realize the are placing their child at risk for tooth decay when fruit juices substitute the real thing. Tooth decay is a childhood epidemic in the USA that has ... sadly .... not decreased over the years despite our advances. Parents must be educated on nutrition and their infants oral health. Here is a link to a video blog that shows you how high sugars are hidden in juice boxes! Cheers to your child's health! https://youtu.be/2mtISfacKeI
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fruit juice and any other natural sugary drinks should be be allowed for child's consumption at any age. Juices, although considered naturally, do not provide any nutritional value, and in essence contain an enormous amount of sugar and acid. At palm valley pediatric dentistry avondale, the only drinks that is recommended for children is water. Not only juice is not nutritional, but it provides sugar in child's mouth, which in return increases the carries rate in kids.
My opinion after some years of hobby studying:
1) Juice dumps a load of sugar into your body, just like soda
2) Drinking the equivalent of "8 apples, 2 grapefruits" etc. etc. (what the labels say) is not the same as eating that much fruit, in so many ways: in addition to above (1), the "pulp" of the fruits is removed (extremely healthy) and--- importantly -- the "good" bacterial in your lower GI tract does NOT get fed, because the juice is already broken down. We need to eat foods that take a long time for our body to process, because (in addition to burning more calories to do so) the microbiome in our digestive track will get off kilter -- bad bacteria that can live on sugar will proliferate.
Babies and juice? I would argue that juice should be considered a treat, similar to a dessert, at any age (and I don't think young children need any juice at all but proper fruit). I'm showing my 11 month old son now what an amazing treat it is to bite into beautiful, ripe nectarines, pears, peaches and apricots. Whole foods are where it's at, for all of us!
1) Juice dumps a load of sugar into your body, just like soda
2) Drinking the equivalent of "8 apples, 2 grapefruits" etc. etc. (what the labels say) is not the same as eating that much fruit, in so many ways: in addition to above (1), the "pulp" of the fruits is removed (extremely healthy) and--- importantly -- the "good" bacterial in your lower GI tract does NOT get fed, because the juice is already broken down. We need to eat foods that take a long time for our body to process, because (in addition to burning more calories to do so) the microbiome in our digestive track will get off kilter -- bad bacteria that can live on sugar will proliferate.
Babies and juice? I would argue that juice should be considered a treat, similar to a dessert, at any age (and I don't think young children need any juice at all but proper fruit). I'm showing my 11 month old son now what an amazing treat it is to bite into beautiful, ripe nectarines, pears, peaches and apricots. Whole foods are where it's at, for all of us!
1
It's simple, babies can not suck the fruit for themselves. They have a mother for their food, milk. After the year when he has all his teeth he will eat other things. Pure coherence.
1
So many people drink juice for vitamins, and often times these juices don't even contain vitamins, or contain less than 5% of what you need!
There's a myth out there that I keep trying to beat -- "all orange juice has vitamin C."
Capri Sun "100%" juice contains 0% Vitamin C and is only 7% orange! Most of this juice is just simple sugar with artificial flavoring.
Its important to be educated and read nutrition labels. Take a look at exactly whats in the food you eat and drink you drink.
You will be surprised, and will second guess the food choices you make for your kids/family with every single dollar you spend on food.
Eat whole fruits to get the real vitamins that you need.
http://doctor-deena.blogspot.com/2016/01/cutting-down-on-added-sugars-fr...
There's a myth out there that I keep trying to beat -- "all orange juice has vitamin C."
Capri Sun "100%" juice contains 0% Vitamin C and is only 7% orange! Most of this juice is just simple sugar with artificial flavoring.
Its important to be educated and read nutrition labels. Take a look at exactly whats in the food you eat and drink you drink.
You will be surprised, and will second guess the food choices you make for your kids/family with every single dollar you spend on food.
Eat whole fruits to get the real vitamins that you need.
http://doctor-deena.blogspot.com/2016/01/cutting-down-on-added-sugars-fr...
Yes! Great. Although it's so odd this is a NEW recommendation. My aunts and older sisters in 70s, 80s, 90s shared this information. I, in turn, did not give my child fruit juice for at least two years. And one whole fruit, one orange for example, provides fiber & nutrients which are essential and which juice alone does not provide.
2
Liquid sugar with vitamins-pure and simple. Sugary calorie bombs for kids! Same as soda or Hawaiian Punch for the most part.
1
Bravo to these courageous physicians for doing something to stem the tide of sugar water.
Pediatrician will say do this, don't do that until the next research says the opposite.
The problem I see here is I see many women, somehow, are loosing their mother instinct and reasoning.... With so many books and information about the first year of a baby out there!
Sugars are bad for kids, no matter when you give them to them. If you start before their first year you are setting up a pattern of sugar taste and intake that the baby will look forward to have the test of his life...
So, no matter when you start with fruit juice, drinkable yogurts, flavored milk, and some of the worse: Pediasure (that some pediatrician have the nerve to prescribe) and sodas, you are setting them for health complications in the long run. All these drinks are dull of sugars and additives.
Stick to the natural way. Pretend the rest of those drinks don't exist. What would you do??? Yea! Milk, water and fruits...
The problem I see here is I see many women, somehow, are loosing their mother instinct and reasoning.... With so many books and information about the first year of a baby out there!
Sugars are bad for kids, no matter when you give them to them. If you start before their first year you are setting up a pattern of sugar taste and intake that the baby will look forward to have the test of his life...
So, no matter when you start with fruit juice, drinkable yogurts, flavored milk, and some of the worse: Pediasure (that some pediatrician have the nerve to prescribe) and sodas, you are setting them for health complications in the long run. All these drinks are dull of sugars and additives.
Stick to the natural way. Pretend the rest of those drinks don't exist. What would you do??? Yea! Milk, water and fruits...
1
Interesting, since pediatricians also recommend that after age 2, to have your child drink low fat milk. Supposedly to avoid tendencies toward childhood obesity. I never followed that advice, believing that less tampering with food is better, and knowing we need fats for brain development. Lo & behold - apparently that common sense has now become the new healthy trend.
I gave my kids mostly water to drink, and I know about the sugar & lack of fibers in fruit juice, and potential dental problems, so we drank it sparingly and diluted. But in moderation it is ok, and just because "the pediatrician says so" does not make it always right. Common sense works, and of course doctors are courted by big pharma & lobbyists.
I gave my kids mostly water to drink, and I know about the sugar & lack of fibers in fruit juice, and potential dental problems, so we drank it sparingly and diluted. But in moderation it is ok, and just because "the pediatrician says so" does not make it always right. Common sense works, and of course doctors are courted by big pharma & lobbyists.
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We join you in congratulating you.
1
18 years ago our pediatrician gave this advice, though as I recall the prohibition went well beyond the first year.
5
And whatever you do, do NOT let a baby fall asleep with a bottle of juice in their mouth. Terrible dental problems await them, plus you get the nightmare of guilt to live with knowing it was all your fault. Don't be lazy...
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I can't believe it. Finally an article that says I did something right raising my kids! Way back in the late 70's - 80's era it didn't seem right to serve my kids (or any other kids) juice. Motherly instinct? Who knows. I know friends who also got it right way back then too. We also made our own baby food - blenders were a great invention! And that included using real fruit.
Boy, it took a long time for us to say we led the way. :)
Boy, it took a long time for us to say we led the way. :)
6
I don't know anyone who gives juice to babies for nutrition. I do know parents who have tried many other things for a constipated baby and are desperate for something that works. Many baby food recipes also call for small amounts of vitamin-C rich juice to be added to help with iron absorption. However I think most parents agree that juice is not a positive addition to a baby's diet.
1
Sadly, daily I see "parents" giving their toddlers, children, and sometimes even 18 month old children soda. I work for one of the largest global retailers. These "parents" call it "juice" but it only contains artificial flavorings, colorings, and high fructose corn syrup. At least fruit juice would offer minimal nutritional benefit.
2
My father was a pediatrician who from 1945 on told parents no fruit juice. He had seen too many problems develop and had also established the first clinical research clinic in pediatric nephrology in Newark, NJ. There, the studies were on black infants; blacks in the ghetto relied on inexpensive foods, many sugar-laden. Another issue involved glucose levels and diabetes. He had me, his son, do a two-year study of sugar on the liver that proved a direct link with liver disease (rabbits were used). That led to a NSF grant at the age of 15. I continued medical research with the grant at Columbia University's medical school, then switched to breast-cancer research at Yale where I discovered that JAMA (the AMA's journal) had suppressed the findings of Criles in 1960 on vs. Halstead, a misogynist who a hundred years earlier invented the radical mastectomy. Worse, a study of 130 hospitals showed that blacks were given no post-op treatment. My conclusion is that one has to study how pediatricians advise parents since visits have often been cut from one hour to five to ten minutes. The study has to be redone to show a breakdown by race. Hispanics, for example, tend to be raised drinking fruit juice. But overall, with all obvious potentials for disease, doctors have to be honest with patients and do only appropriate tests. For example, starting life drinking sugar reforms the receptor in the brain for sugar (taste, structure) to craving it which leads to obesity.
3
great research, relevant information. considering the fact that sugar stimulates brain receptors, which increase hunger feel, consumption of sugary products also lead to obesity in children and adults. http://pvpd.com/ has a blog article when it comes to sugary consumption and its effects on oral health and obesity factors in children.
1
Still think slicing different types of fruits and let the baby eat is the best way to go. Did this with my boy's and they're healthy.
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"It is unclear if the next U.S.D.A. guidance will forbid juice for infants."
With the health of babies on one side, and corporate profits on the other, there is nothing "unclear" about which way a Republican dominated government will choose. Unless the "babies" are "unborn" -- then, they're golden, as Mr. Carlin always said.
With the health of babies on one side, and corporate profits on the other, there is nothing "unclear" about which way a Republican dominated government will choose. Unless the "babies" are "unborn" -- then, they're golden, as Mr. Carlin always said.
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This may all be true, but what worries me about this message is that like most diet messages, the nuance will be lost, and more kids will end up drinking soda or fruit punch. What are children supposed to drink? Only milk and water? Of course that is unrealistic, so when parents inevitably give up on that impossible goal, theyll be as likely to give their kids soda or kool aid as the bad, bad fruit juice. Juice may not be perfect, but its brimming with vitamins and natural enzymes from the raw fruit.
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What is wrong with drinking only milk and water (tap water in my house)? What is unrealistic about it?
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There's nothing unrealistic about an infant under 13 months drinking only milk or water.
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Water and milk is just fine. Juice is not just a concentrated form of glucose 50%(triggers insulin resistant) but has 50% of fructose, which requires the liver to convert it fat (overweight).
So stay with water, milk and whole fruits.
So stay with water, milk and whole fruits.
9
Fruit juice is sugar. We've known for a long time that fruit juice isn't beneficial. Why so much haggling over the obvious. Is this just more politics and influence from big corporations at the expense of our children? What good is funding science and nutritional studies if we aren't going to listen to them?
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As a psychologist I am left to wonder if this extreme message will have ill effects. Why not just say "hey, for reasons x, y and z, juice is not the optimal beverage. We worry young kids might drink too much and so please, if you do, limit it." The focus on what kids eat in the first year of life is remarkable. There are psychological effects of all the pressure put on new mothers. I am not suggesting juice is a good alternative but clearly a little, in moderation, is that really "harmful" enough to merit a total ban?
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Honestly, psych mom, it's not that hard to do. The first two years are the easiest in fact. It's after they enter a twos program and then preschool that things get harder. For the first two years, all they really know is what you have and serve in your own home.
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I love the lively discussion. While there is nutritional value in 100% fruit juice, dietary recommendations allow for small quantities of 100% juice, and avoidance of diluted juice with sugar added. The problem is, this often leads to confusing and mixed messages, or flat out false advertising. I believe there is a place in a healthy diet for kids drinking 8 oz of 100% juice. Better if fresh squeezed. And no more.
A separate issue I haven't seen is the discussion, is parental obsession with serving juice and sugary sport drinks to kids after sporting events. Few young children exercise to the point of needing replenishment of electrolytes. Even worse are sugary sport drinks with caffeine. We do not need to be rewarding kids with sugar sweetened beverages with the after game refreshment. How about a piece of real fruit and water?
A separate issue I haven't seen is the discussion, is parental obsession with serving juice and sugary sport drinks to kids after sporting events. Few young children exercise to the point of needing replenishment of electrolytes. Even worse are sugary sport drinks with caffeine. We do not need to be rewarding kids with sugar sweetened beverages with the after game refreshment. How about a piece of real fruit and water?
12
Real fruit and water were the default snacks when my first two kids were in sports (Palo Alto, CA). Years later, for the third, things had changed. Junk food became the norm. Luckily my kid never had soda so he didn't mind not partaking.
Yes! Go back to real fruit and water for sport snacks. We owe this to our kids.
Yes! Go back to real fruit and water for sport snacks. We owe this to our kids.
4
Sweetened fruit juice is not good for adults either. Sweetened fruit juice raises the blood sugar high and very fast. Fruit is best eaten fresh rather than consumed as a high calorie drink.
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This is not new news. Dentistry has been telling people for years-Don't give juice to baby's, especially in bottles. Baby bottle caries can make a child a dental cripple before age 1.
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Unfortunately it did not mention home made fruit juice from fresh fruit. I think it should be fine for older children.
4
yes, about time indeed. facts like these about juice, for example, seem pretty obvious, but i know many people do not do their due diligence. product marketing often tells people hat they want to hear, not what they need to hear..
next up needs to be milk alternatives, such as soy or almond "milk". my kids, 4 & 2, never drink juice and only occasionally drink milk (their choice- they are served a glass at school. the 2yr old has never liked cow's milk). i see several of their classmates drinking almond milk, because their parents are raising them vegan (another topic for another day..). fine, their choices. and in the case of allergies, always understood!.. however, the ingredients in many of these "milks" contain a tiny percentage of almonds and contain sugar as the next ingredient following water. i like the philosophy of eating real foods and drinking real drinks..
next up needs to be milk alternatives, such as soy or almond "milk". my kids, 4 & 2, never drink juice and only occasionally drink milk (their choice- they are served a glass at school. the 2yr old has never liked cow's milk). i see several of their classmates drinking almond milk, because their parents are raising them vegan (another topic for another day..). fine, their choices. and in the case of allergies, always understood!.. however, the ingredients in many of these "milks" contain a tiny percentage of almonds and contain sugar as the next ingredient following water. i like the philosophy of eating real foods and drinking real drinks..
6
Anyone remember "ketchup as a vegetable"?
10
About 25 years ago, I asked my children's first pediatrician, the legendary Ramon Murphy, MD, whether or not he recommended adding fruit juice to my toddler's diet. Don't do it, he said – – "it's little better than sugar water spiked with pesticides."
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Yay for Uptown Pediatrics!
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Fruit is high in fructose which some people can have trouble breaking down.
1
While we're at it, why don't we test taste baby food to see how sweet or salty it is? From what I understand it's seasoned to appeal to adult taste buds, not children and, if fed to them on a regular basis, will lead them to prefer highly sweetened or salted food. Most vegetables taste fine without salt or sugar. I think it's the adjusting to different textures and tastes other than mother's milk or formula that drives parents crazy when their kids reject food.
It's normal for a child's appetite to slow down during the second year of life. It's also normal for a child to reject food that is unfamiliar. The advice I've seen is to offer it a couple of times without pushing it at the child. Don't be discouraged either because that picky eater at 2 or 4 may turn out to be an excellent eater by the time she's in her teens. The key is not making mealtimes or food the problem.
It's normal for a child's appetite to slow down during the second year of life. It's also normal for a child to reject food that is unfamiliar. The advice I've seen is to offer it a couple of times without pushing it at the child. Don't be discouraged either because that picky eater at 2 or 4 may turn out to be an excellent eater by the time she's in her teens. The key is not making mealtimes or food the problem.
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I don't know the last time you checked the ingredients on baby food but it isn't seasoned or salted. Infants and children have highly sensitive taste buds, more so than adults.
Assertions based on FACTS, please.
Assertions based on FACTS, please.
3
My kids stopped accepting new foods willingly around 24 months. Before that, they were quite open.
The key is to keep all of the food you want them to stay open to in fairly frequent rotation before the second birthday. At least that was my experience with three. If you drop a food out for too long, there's a good chance it will not be remembered and then will be rejected automatically after novelty tolerance drops off.
My other best advice to younger parents who care about these things: don't corrupt their little palates with added sugar, sweet drinks, or too much salt. Normalize the flavors and seasonings you want them to favor after 24 months. Avoid the flavors and seasonings you think are bad for long-term health.
After 24 months, a lot of this is out of your hands, at least when they are out of your house – – as increasingly, they will be.
The key is to keep all of the food you want them to stay open to in fairly frequent rotation before the second birthday. At least that was my experience with three. If you drop a food out for too long, there's a good chance it will not be remembered and then will be rejected automatically after novelty tolerance drops off.
My other best advice to younger parents who care about these things: don't corrupt their little palates with added sugar, sweet drinks, or too much salt. Normalize the flavors and seasonings you want them to favor after 24 months. Avoid the flavors and seasonings you think are bad for long-term health.
After 24 months, a lot of this is out of your hands, at least when they are out of your house – – as increasingly, they will be.
6
Baby food is awful. If it's meant to appeal to adult taste buds, it fails at an epic level.
Mashed up real food is fine for babies.
Mashed up real food is fine for babies.
5
Some of you know-it-alls are simply exhausting. "I've known this for decades! How could someone else not know it?!" It's the same as anything else: if you aren't taught something, you have little means of understanding it. (Think abstinence-only education and its poor results.) Many mothers have not been taught that juice is bad for their children -- and they've been marketed to by the other side, increasing their chances of misunderstanding. Celebrate this small victory that will lead some families in the right direction, instead of finding vindication in your own knowledge.
24
How is this news? Who doesn't know that fruit juice is bad; the same as soda?
2
Of course it is "news."Lots of people apparently don't know that drinking juice, especially for babies and little kids, is a terrible idea. Take a look at what is in many baby bottles next time you walk through the park. Then take a look at the toddlers – – many or most or clutching "juice boxes."
My refusal to purchase or provide juice to my three babies/kids marked me as a bit of a weirdo. I think other mothers sometimes felt it was implicitly judgmental to stick to water and milk. There is a lot of peer pressure, even among affluent Manhattanites, to let your kids eat and drink sugar/that/salt/chemical garbage while you yourself munch on a kale salad.
My refusal to purchase or provide juice to my three babies/kids marked me as a bit of a weirdo. I think other mothers sometimes felt it was implicitly judgmental to stick to water and milk. There is a lot of peer pressure, even among affluent Manhattanites, to let your kids eat and drink sugar/that/salt/chemical garbage while you yourself munch on a kale salad.
7
You'd be surprised. An adult acquaintance of mine, in her 60s, said something a few days ago that made my head spin. Her husband just had to have a re-do of his coronary artery bypass grafts (they were 100% occluded after 5 years; he should have gotten 10+ years out of them). She announced that he needed a lifestyle overhaul, which I agree with. He has a terrible diet and is obese. She stated she went to costco and bought five 64 oz bottles of Naked juice, for "his energy levels and because juice is healthy". I kid you not. So Sharon, there is a perception that fruit is healthy, fruit juice is derived from fruit, so juice = healthy. I cut my 2 year olds juice via this ratio: 1 table spoon of juice to 8 oz water. She gets "juice" once a week. I know what healthy choices are, but not everyone does and they need to be explicitly told what not to do.
7
Wow, interesting. My parents were very pedestrian and solidly lower middle class and we never had juice or soda in the house, probably because water is free from the tap. Also, "Naked Juice" should be regulated like a drug; the amount of sugar is criminal
6
"You eat your fruit, you don't drink it."
13
Pediatricians say? Lactation consultants around the world have been saying "exclusively breast milk for at least a year—or more!" for a very long time, but somehow it doesn't make the news until "pediatricians say". Shame on you. To be fair, please have Catherine Saint Louis do two more articles: 1) an interview with the head of the International Board of Certified Lactation Consultants on breastfeeding and how sugary drinks like fruit juice bring on allergies, asthma, obesity, ear infections and colic; and 2) an article on how the medical industry in this country fails to support women's breastfeeding and still pushes formula on women who've just given birth, particularly poor women.
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Why is it surprising that we expect pediatricians, highly educated medical doctors specializing in the health of children, to conduct research and to report findings regarding how to best promote the health of children?
Is a lactation consultant the best person to conduct or interpret scientific research? To weigh the quality of one study against another? And is it really settled science that sugar brings on "allergies, asthma, . . . ear infections and colic," as you imply?
I'm no fan of sugar, but I am a big fan of science and research.
Just to be clear: This is not an attack on supporting breast-feeding (I breast-fed all three of mine, one of them for three full years.). This is not an advertisement for sugary juices or sodas (neither of which was provided to my children).
Those of us on the left would do well to leave the overreaching, unsupported, unscientific claims to the fact-immune rightwingers. We would also do well to celebrate the work of rigorously educated medical scientists while knowledging that science, like all human endeavors, can produce error.
Is a lactation consultant the best person to conduct or interpret scientific research? To weigh the quality of one study against another? And is it really settled science that sugar brings on "allergies, asthma, . . . ear infections and colic," as you imply?
I'm no fan of sugar, but I am a big fan of science and research.
Just to be clear: This is not an attack on supporting breast-feeding (I breast-fed all three of mine, one of them for three full years.). This is not an advertisement for sugary juices or sodas (neither of which was provided to my children).
Those of us on the left would do well to leave the overreaching, unsupported, unscientific claims to the fact-immune rightwingers. We would also do well to celebrate the work of rigorously educated medical scientists while knowledging that science, like all human endeavors, can produce error.
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I can't stand those nursing fanatics.
I breastfed 2 children exclusively for many long months 4 years apart. During each of those periods, both were sick constantly, had horrible ear infections (complete with burst eardrums with the younger child), AND it was misery for me as well.
With my first, right after he vomited all over the exam table at 4 mos old after being diagnosed with a virus and an ear infection (only child, no daycare or church nursery, exclusively breastfed ONLY FROM THE BREAST BECAUSE HE WOULDN'T ACCEPT A BOTTLE), I looked at the doctor and said, "I feel like those lactation people lied to me!" He said, "Yeah, fanatics and facts rarely go hand in hand."
Breastfeeding is, for many women, a rough experience with few scientifically proven benefits after 6 weeks or so. Women deserve honesty.
I breastfed 2 children exclusively for many long months 4 years apart. During each of those periods, both were sick constantly, had horrible ear infections (complete with burst eardrums with the younger child), AND it was misery for me as well.
With my first, right after he vomited all over the exam table at 4 mos old after being diagnosed with a virus and an ear infection (only child, no daycare or church nursery, exclusively breastfed ONLY FROM THE BREAST BECAUSE HE WOULDN'T ACCEPT A BOTTLE), I looked at the doctor and said, "I feel like those lactation people lied to me!" He said, "Yeah, fanatics and facts rarely go hand in hand."
Breastfeeding is, for many women, a rough experience with few scientifically proven benefits after 6 weeks or so. Women deserve honesty.
3
Honeybee, I also found breastfeeding difficult. I nursed my first for 2 + years and only really enjoyed our nursing relationship for maybe three of those months (months 3- 6). He caught viruses sometimes. My 2nd was nursed for 4 stressful months. I don't think she was ill much during those 4 months. But that said, there are absolutely benefits for a baby in breast-milk. For example, my first never had issues with constipation (breastfed babies rarely do), but my 2nd battles it (she is 10 months old.) But if the mother doesn't want to nurse for any reason or wishes to stop, it's okay. I think women should be encouraged to try to breastfeed but not shamed for refusing or stopping. And breastfeeding can worsen post-partum depression in some women -- another thing they don't tell us. Women do deserve honesty.
Why on earth don't parents give their infants vegetable juice? Vegetable juice--even without any fruits--is surprisingly sweet, and has way more nutrients. Add just one fruit and your kid will be hooked. Give any kid a beet-carrot-celery-apple juice and he will be smiling the whole way.
2
Okay, clearly something didn't get through. Juices are NOT healthier than eating the actual thing. Vegetable juice, fruit juice, it's pretty much all the same thing - particularly if it involves pulverizing and extracting the liquids from fruits or vegetables. For example: if you look at carrot juice the carb count is off the scale. Eating the same quantity of carrots would require substantially more effort. And ultimately that's what it boils down to. EAT YOUR FOOD, don't drink it.
12
Carrots are little orange sugar cubes.
3
Drinking vegetable juice is healthier for infants than drinking fruit juice, just as eating pureed vegetables is healthier than eating pureed fruits. Though not as nutritional as eating vegetables whole, drinking vegetable juice is more likely to foster an affinity for the taste of vegetables when kids grow older, less likely to reinforce an unhealthy sweet tooth, and less likely to cause dental decay (one of the author's points).
3
This is news? All the pediatricians I know have been recommending no juice for years. No juice for anyone. Drink water. Eat fruit.
9
Why would anyone ever give their child fruit juice before they turn one? That this common sense needs to be mandated is astounding.
2
As a constipation remedy when changes in diet are not helping, perhaps? My baby is currently struggling with this badly. And I mean badly. I will try anything at this point. I didn't believe in juice for babies, but I've learned not to judge.
1
Finally, the nation's pediatricians have agreed with me. My children are 29 and 26 and I never let them have fruit juice, except an occasional glass of orange juice in the winter when they were in grade school. They ate plenty of real fruit and vegetables and as adults eat balanced diets with all foods of all colors, and are adventuresome about trying new things.
4
Giving juice which has been processed to babies, is a sign of parenting incompetence and laziness. It is very well known that juices are diuretics. I remember a two-year-old demanding apple juice from morning to any time during the day. She was probably craving the sugar.
Children should have real fruits in small quantities so they get used to recognizing what they look like and what they taste like. All packaged food especially when mass-produced should be totally avoided. It contains stabilizers I cannot pronounce or spell.
I am glad something is being done about it.
How complicated is it to make simple, tasty and healthy meals? It is almost as fast as opening a can. Stop giving babies and children poison food as pacifier.
Children should have real fruits in small quantities so they get used to recognizing what they look like and what they taste like. All packaged food especially when mass-produced should be totally avoided. It contains stabilizers I cannot pronounce or spell.
I am glad something is being done about it.
How complicated is it to make simple, tasty and healthy meals? It is almost as fast as opening a can. Stop giving babies and children poison food as pacifier.
2
I've seen that a kid experienced serious diarrhea when she consumed excessive fruit juice. Mom didn't know the reason of diarrhea and gave more fruit juice to the kid worrying dehydration. Later, she found that the fruit juice caused diarrhea because of the soluble form of fiber called pectin. My guess is that the real fruits would cause less diarrhea (if any) because they easily fill stomach and hard to ear (compared to juice) so are consumed less though they have more fibers. On the other hand, kids can drink juice constantly. Mom cut the juice and gave milk to the kid, and the kid stopped diarrhea in a day.
8
I was fairly relaxed about no-sugar-added fruit juice once my children were drinking out of cups. I didn't want their first experience of a sugary beverage to be a mind-blowing soda and set off a permanent craving for soda.
If they wanted juice, I gave them juice. Other options at our house were milk, water, and chocolate milk. When they came inside hot and thirsty, their only option was water.
Once they decided they were "too big" for apple juice and chocolate milk, they just switched to water on their own. Now, at 21 and 18, neither drink soda and rarely eat candy/cookies/etc.
*In a similar vein of thinking, my friend, at her dentist husband's urging, faithfully encouraged both of her children to accept pacifiers so that they wouldn't instead acquire the habit of thumb or finger-sucking (an unbreakable habit since you can't eventually taper off the thumbs/fingers).
If parents are too hard-core and uptight, kids often go wild as soon as they can. Strategic moderation is important.
If they wanted juice, I gave them juice. Other options at our house were milk, water, and chocolate milk. When they came inside hot and thirsty, their only option was water.
Once they decided they were "too big" for apple juice and chocolate milk, they just switched to water on their own. Now, at 21 and 18, neither drink soda and rarely eat candy/cookies/etc.
*In a similar vein of thinking, my friend, at her dentist husband's urging, faithfully encouraged both of her children to accept pacifiers so that they wouldn't instead acquire the habit of thumb or finger-sucking (an unbreakable habit since you can't eventually taper off the thumbs/fingers).
If parents are too hard-core and uptight, kids often go wild as soon as they can. Strategic moderation is important.
9
About time! Juice is sugar water and contributes to obesity as much as soda. Same calories, with questionable nutritional value -- most of which is added after processing. What a racket! Yet our politicians promote fruit juice as healthy and communities exempt it from soda taxes. Enough, I say. Drink water, it is truly the healthiest beverage on earth.
16
Thank you. My wife's aunt almost killed my two week old daughter by feeding her a bottle of orange juice. Every inch of her body, including her eyelids, flared in horrible, painful whelps that resembled tiny boils. It was excruciating. Four doctors were unable to help, yet finally we met a wonderful Cuban immigrant pediatrician who immediately recognized the cause and helped us fashion a cure. It took more than a year for her skin to clear, with major flareups erupting throughout her first decade. Protect the little ones. Thanks so much for this story.
8
And how did I survive to adulthood - a baby boomer when "nursing" was
out of fashion. A modern woman like my mother in the late 1940's not
only bottle fed, but fed her babies a variety of juices that would never be
recommended today. Maybe these early dietary variants contributed to
the 60's Revolution, as is it called, but also the current need to
preserve and protect Medicare.
out of fashion. A modern woman like my mother in the late 1940's not
only bottle fed, but fed her babies a variety of juices that would never be
recommended today. Maybe these early dietary variants contributed to
the 60's Revolution, as is it called, but also the current need to
preserve and protect Medicare.
2
Our pediatrician recommended prune juice for a particular reason, but even then stewed prunes do the job just as well!
2
Even as an adult, I could not stand fruit juice! However, I love to mix water or sparkling water with any fruit juice about 85% water and 15% juice. Pure fruit juice is cloyingly sweet.
9
My 9-month-old gets a few sips of watered down fruit juice if he's constipated. It always does the trick. It's an easy solution that I don't see doing him any harm, and I'm going to stick with it. Regularly drinking fruit juice has little nutritional benefit, as the article suggests, but I don't think there's any reason to take an all-or-nothing attitude about it.
13
The American Academy of Pediatrics has a bit of a history of making disastrous blanket statements about what foods we should not (NEVER, EVER!) feed very young children.
Remember peanut butter*?
I suspect there actually is value in allowing children to consume limited quantities of fruit juice. We need young children to experience a wide array of different flavors. We want them to learn that all sorts of things are edible and tasty. Juice can be a way to expand a picky eater's palate before you confront them with challenging textures.
Also - juice is better than that other option for careless (or exhausted) parents - soda pop. At least juice has some nutrition.
_______
* just in case you missed the news - it appears that the blanket ban on feeding small children peanut butter has actually increased the number of children with peanut allergies. It's a direct example of a dietary recommendation that has caused harm.
Remember peanut butter*?
I suspect there actually is value in allowing children to consume limited quantities of fruit juice. We need young children to experience a wide array of different flavors. We want them to learn that all sorts of things are edible and tasty. Juice can be a way to expand a picky eater's palate before you confront them with challenging textures.
Also - juice is better than that other option for careless (or exhausted) parents - soda pop. At least juice has some nutrition.
_______
* just in case you missed the news - it appears that the blanket ban on feeding small children peanut butter has actually increased the number of children with peanut allergies. It's a direct example of a dietary recommendation that has caused harm.
11
If I recall correctly, the previous dietary recommendation re peanuts did not actually increase the rate of children with peanut allergies, it just didn't help to decrease it. In that instance, researchers took a good look at a big enough data set, realized that there was no scientific benefit to the previous recommendation and then changed it accordingly. It's called science.
13
There is no thirst quencher like water - it's the real thing!
14
Except that this is not about quenching thirst, it's about providing nutrition to infants who have a limited capacity to take in fluids during any given day.
2
But most kids hate drinking just plain water.
My sister used bottles of fruit juice and coca-cola to quiet her baby. By age 4, his teeth were so rotten that 4 teeth had to be pulled. Then he developed a lisp as he learned to speak, which required further therapy. A nightmare that every parent should avoid.
20
I once worked for an all-natural sparkling juice company that legally claimed each bottle was equal to a serving of fruit. It met USDA guidelines: 12 oz of the fruit juice/sparkling water blend contained 8 oz of 100% fruit juice.
For months, I couldn't get my hands on the nutritional values; they weren't published anywhere, no one had them. Part of my job was answering consumer questions, though, and many asked what the vitamin content was (we weren't required to put this on the label). Not being able to tell them anything was a challenge. I continually pressed the owners and was continually stalled (they were changing flavor houses, they'd get back to me). I finally insisted they had to know something, and was finally told the truth: our 100% natural sparkling juice contained no vitamins--they'd all been cooked out in pasteurization. We could legally claim to be equivalent to a serving of fruit--a great marketing device--so we did. The owner justified this by mocking the idea that anyone really depended on sparkling juice for nutrition.
I strongly argued that just because this was legal didn't make it right: our consumers thought they were nourishing themselves and their children when choosing us over soda, and in fact it was all just empty calories--a lot of empty calories. I said we were deceiving them, we knew it, and we should do better.
Two weeks later, right before my stock option grant, I was let go and the company was acquired.
Still, no regrets.
For months, I couldn't get my hands on the nutritional values; they weren't published anywhere, no one had them. Part of my job was answering consumer questions, though, and many asked what the vitamin content was (we weren't required to put this on the label). Not being able to tell them anything was a challenge. I continually pressed the owners and was continually stalled (they were changing flavor houses, they'd get back to me). I finally insisted they had to know something, and was finally told the truth: our 100% natural sparkling juice contained no vitamins--they'd all been cooked out in pasteurization. We could legally claim to be equivalent to a serving of fruit--a great marketing device--so we did. The owner justified this by mocking the idea that anyone really depended on sparkling juice for nutrition.
I strongly argued that just because this was legal didn't make it right: our consumers thought they were nourishing themselves and their children when choosing us over soda, and in fact it was all just empty calories--a lot of empty calories. I said we were deceiving them, we knew it, and we should do better.
Two weeks later, right before my stock option grant, I was let go and the company was acquired.
Still, no regrets.
35
To be let go right before your stock option grant before an acquisition pushes the boundaries of legality. I wish there were more people like you willing to sacrifice your personal profit, and even your job, for the truth. Consider running for office?
The next thing they should examine is those squeeze pouches for babies and toddlers. Almost all of them are sweetened in some way, with apple juice/sauce or pears etc. They are marketed as natural and healthy but they accustom,babies to wanting everything to be sweet. It's better to get the refillable ones and make your own purees
46
Well, DUH! Anyone who has given undiluted fruit juice to a small child can see the sugar hitting them. There is no way a little baby needs that much sugar in their system. We diluted juice 50/50 with water until our kids were like 4 years old. Water, breast milk, formula if necessary before 1 year...
6
Once kids taste the sweet stuff, they can become more difficult when it comes to other foods.
21
"Stephanie Meyering, an spokeswoman for the Juice Products Association, "
Presumably the whole idea that fruit juice is suitable for infants was originally created by marketing.
Presumably the whole idea that fruit juice is suitable for infants was originally created by marketing.
21
I often wonder how people in jobs like that sleep at night. Remember the movie "thank you for smoking"?
4
I've never understood people giving juice to babies. I've known children who constantly had a bottle of juice in their sticky little hands. The stickiness alone is a good reason to avoid juice!
Water is a wonderful drink! It doesn't need anything added to it - just plain old water. When my children were little, I kept a water box with a spigot in the refrigerator and my children used their silver baby mugs to get a drink when they were thirsty. Cup dropped? A dent but no broken glass! Water spilled? It's just water - no stickiness and easy to wipe up quickly.
Water is a greatly underrated beverage!
Water is a wonderful drink! It doesn't need anything added to it - just plain old water. When my children were little, I kept a water box with a spigot in the refrigerator and my children used their silver baby mugs to get a drink when they were thirsty. Cup dropped? A dent but no broken glass! Water spilled? It's just water - no stickiness and easy to wipe up quickly.
Water is a greatly underrated beverage!
87
Nature has provided women with two answers to the fruit juice problem. One is on the right side and the other is on the left side.
23
I've nursed all three of my children - I'm still nursing my third baby - and don't give my kids juice ever, but there are not enough eye rolls for a Mr. Robert Kolker's suggestion that, once again, a woman must give of her body. Come. on.
42
I devotedly breast-fed all three of my babies. So why does this comment from a dude ranckle me so deeply?
13
This is glib and ignorant. Nationally, just under 19% of babies are still exclusively breastfed at 6 months, and just under 50% are being breastfed at all. At a year, only 27% are still being breastfed at all. There are a host of reasons for this, and none of them is that moms are slackers. Breastfeeding, while rewarding, is also frustrating, very time-consuming and particularly difficult if you also work outside of your home. Some families need this guidance on juice. I'm glad they're getting it.
6
I am so glad to see this update. We never let our son taste juice until he was almost two and when he did try it he didn't like it! Kids don't need the extra sugar in the juice. Stick with water and real fruit.
27
And milk! Babies and infants need milk.
10
When they're older what about cutting the juice with water? I've found that doing that makes me less likely to gulp it down and less thirsty than I was. Note that I started doing that in my 20s because I found the fruit juices to be way too sweet and I don't drink apple juice at all. I will drink cider.
What about giving children, not infants, water with a slice of lime in it for flavor if they like it? The other thing to avoid is soda. It's filling but not at all nutritious. Plain water is best when one is thirsty.
What about giving children, not infants, water with a slice of lime in it for flavor if they like it? The other thing to avoid is soda. It's filling but not at all nutritious. Plain water is best when one is thirsty.
9
I found that my son, who at the time was about 9 months, would have terrible runs after drinking apple juice. He was able to tolerate it after his first year. So I'm in agreement, don't rush it. Wait!
1
We have a 7 y/o son and I am a wellness nurse specialist in cardiac and other chronic disease management programs including diabetes education.
The risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes run rampant even for children. I treat juice like liquid candy. We have found in the last decade that it's not necessarily the fat in our diet (transfats excepted) but the empty calories like juice and white starchy foods that lead to excess weight and risks of early diabetes.
As parents we must remember we are shaping our children's future eating habits and therefore future risks of chronic diseases.
The 3 most powerful health risk reduction habits one can make/ foster in our lives in my opinion are as follows. Even though there are others that are also important
1) quit smoking or never start in the first place
2) stop drinking soda, juice or don't allow your children to develop this habit.
3) exercise at least 3 times per week. Don't allow your child to be come what I call a "screen time potato.
Parents be mindful habits are harder to break and the better option is not to create unhealthy habits in the first place!
It always makes me feel disheartened when I see a young person under 16 that already is overweight.
The risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes run rampant even for children. I treat juice like liquid candy. We have found in the last decade that it's not necessarily the fat in our diet (transfats excepted) but the empty calories like juice and white starchy foods that lead to excess weight and risks of early diabetes.
As parents we must remember we are shaping our children's future eating habits and therefore future risks of chronic diseases.
The 3 most powerful health risk reduction habits one can make/ foster in our lives in my opinion are as follows. Even though there are others that are also important
1) quit smoking or never start in the first place
2) stop drinking soda, juice or don't allow your children to develop this habit.
3) exercise at least 3 times per week. Don't allow your child to be come what I call a "screen time potato.
Parents be mindful habits are harder to break and the better option is not to create unhealthy habits in the first place!
It always makes me feel disheartened when I see a young person under 16 that already is overweight.
41
To add to the conversation, the USDA has updated their meal pattern guidelines for Federal food programs like the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). These guidelines also recommend no sugar sweetened beverages in the first year of life. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp/meals-and-snacks
7
I like the one doctor's recommendation that 100% juice should be reserved for special occasions even for older children. True for adults, too. We should be eating fruit, not drinking juice.
63
I'm not sure why this is considered anything new. When my child was a newborn, our pediatrician recommended no fruit juice for my child's first year - if the baby was hungry, breast feed more or supplement with formula. The pediatrician said that as the baby got older, water would be fine if the child was thirsty, but to avoid fruit juice.
The reasons: 1. fruit juice is not as nutritious or as filling as breast milk or formula; 2. babies and children who develop a craving or taste for salt and sugar at a young age tend to crave higher levels of sugar and salt as adults.
The reasons: 1. fruit juice is not as nutritious or as filling as breast milk or formula; 2. babies and children who develop a craving or taste for salt and sugar at a young age tend to crave higher levels of sugar and salt as adults.
21
My pediatrician also felt that way, he said "juice is just empty calories"
8
I am surprised that honey is not mentioned here. Recently in Japan, a baby died because a mother fed honey to the baby. A newspaper blamed the mother for her ignorance, saying that doctors have been warning mothers not to feed honey to babies. I don't know the detail why honey is not good for babies, though I have read that large portion of foreign-made honey contains toxins. However, honey or fruit juice, most of the sugar in them are fructose/glucose. Dr. Robert Lustig of UCSF has been warning that excess sugar intake, particularly fructose, is dangerous because excess fructose damages livers, raises overall insulin resistance, sabotages liver's conversion of excess glucose into fats, and furthermore, that fructose molecule attaches to proteins 7 times more than glucose. Recent study at University of Southern California warns that many mother's milk contains excess fructose that causes infant obese and other metabolic diseases because a large number of young mothers eat prepared foods that contain high fructose corn syrup or drink fruit juices /sodas that also contain fructose/high fructose corn syrup.
5
You are right about honey, but it is for a different reason. Has to do with bacterial contamination, and not just for foreign honey. Although, yes, even if that were not an issue, sugar is, ANY kind of sugar. Too many people think "natural" sugars are OK....and not speaking just about for babies here....if one eats honey, molasses, that's fine....but really, it is the overall amount of all sugars ingested which is important. If you are a diabetic and must control your sugar intake, you have to pay as much attention to "natural" honey and "natural" sugar as you do to high-fructose corn syrup. In the high-fructose corn syrup debate, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Too many prepared foods have too much sugar, whether from sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup. Often, "healthy" muffins, for example, are culprits which lead consumers astray. Best to stay away from heavily-sweetened food of any type.
3
Under age 1, children can get botulism from honey....Pediatricians always caution families NOT to give honey to infants.
35
It is recommended not to feed infants honey because of the risk of infant botulism, which can occur if the honey contains spores from Clostridium botulinum. See info here: http://www.infantbotulism.org/general/faq.php
12
As a baby, my son was ravenous all the time, still is. He always wanted a bottle or sippy cup. I cut fruit juice with 50% water, especially in hot weather as an option for him. He is perfectly fit and trim 18 years later, and I have no regrets.
9
Finally! What took so long?
24
This recommendation is long overdue. Hopefully similar strong nutritional recommendations will come as well regarding other sources of sugars/carbohydrates. The future health of our society is looking grim with increasing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, etc. much of it related to poor nutrition.
19