No Fruit Juice For Kids Under 1: Pediatricians Advise

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd May, 2017 ) : Children should not be given fruit juice before they are 1 year old unless it's advised by a doctor. According to new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics,the group had previously advised parents to wait to offer juice until a child reached 6 months old but decided to make the change based on rising rates of obesity and concerns about tooth cavities, Health news reported.

Dr. Steven A. Abrams, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the Dell Medical school at the University of Texas, and co-author of the policy statement. "We recommend breastfeeding or formula in that age group, and there really isn't any need or beneficial role for juice, so we kind of made that adjustment." The new guidelines state that 100% fresh or reconstituted fruit juice can be a healthy part of a well-balanced diet for children older than 1.

That said, the academy advises parents to limit juice to 4 ounces daily for toddlers between 1 and 3 years old. Juice should be provided in a cup, not a bottle or a box, both of which make it easy to drink juice all day, it says.

For children between 4 and 6, fruit juice should be restricted to 4 to 6 ounces daily. Children between 7 and 18 years old should have no more than 8 ounces (or 1 cup) of juice a day, making up one of the recommended daily 2 to 2� cups of fruit.

The academy also strongly discourages unpasteurized juice products and says grapefruit juice should not be served to children taking certain medications -- ibuprofen, flurbiprofen, warfarin, phenytoin, fluvastatin and amitriptyline -- because it interferes with their effects.

Finally, the group says, fruit juice is not appropriate in the treatment of dehydration or management of diarrhea. "We primarily are supporting that kids learn how to eat fruit rather than fruit juice," Abrams said.

Atlanta pediatrician Dr. Jennifer Shu said that "Even though it's natural sweetness, (juice) doesn't have the same benefits as real fruit, because the fruit has fiber to be more filling, whereas juice is just easy to drink and overdo," said Shu.

Sharon Zarabi, a nutritionist recommends eating whole fruit for vitamins instead."In general, the time that I tend to recommend juice is if kids have constipation, and Apple juice and prune juice can sometimes help with that," Shu said.

"Some juices naturally have certain vitamins or minerals in them," Abrams said, noting that orange juice has lots of vitamin C. "But that doesn't mean that apple juice doesn't provide vitamin C, because it's usually fortified." Shu advises, "If you're going to go for 'better' juice, in addition to looking for 100% fruit juice, look for calcium and vitamin D supplementation." This is especially good for kids who have a dairy intolerance or don't like to drink milk.