100% Juice May Not Boost Kids' Weight

(WebMD)  Drinking 100 percent juice may not make children more likely to be overweight, a new study shows.

The study was presented in Toronto at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting.
The researchers included Theresa Nicklas, DrPH, LN, professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

They reviewed data from a national health survey conducted from 1999 to 2002. The study included the parents of about 3,600 children aged 2-11. The parents detailed everything their children ate and drank during the previous 24 hours. The children's height and weight were also recorded.

The kids drank about 4 ounces of 100 percent juice, on average, during the previous day. That accounted for about 3 percent of their daily calories.

Children's 100 percent juice intake wasn't linked to their odds of being overweight, according to the study.

"Even among the children who consumed the most juice, we found no association at all with the children being overweight or at risk for overweight," Nicklas says in a Baylor news release.

Children who drank 100 percent juice ate more whole fruit, consumed more of several vitamins and minerals, and consumed less salt, fat, and added sugars than children who didn't drink 100 percent juice.

Weight boils down to calories consumed and calories burned. The study doesn't show whether children drinking 100 percent juice were more active than those who didn't drink 100 percent juice, or whether kids' juice-drinking habits varied from day to day.
The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Juice Products Association.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D.
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