The 'healthy' fruit juices that can make your babies fat and rot

Fruit juice is the healthiest drink caring parents can give their baby...or is it?

Doctors are now warning that it can actually lead to malnutrition in babies - and stunted growth in toddlers.

The latest research also shows that it can make children obese and cause their teeth to rot.

Why? Because fruit juices are often as sugar-packed as fizzy pop, and with little more real nourishment for growing tots.

This will alarm millions of parents who let their toddlers graduate from sucking on a milk bottle all day to guzzling down orange or apple juice.

Scientists in America have discovered that orange juice fills the stomachs of children, ruining their appetites for foods with essential nutrients for growth.

And as they refuse real food, the sugar makes them three times more likely to be overweight.

Jack Winkler, chairman of a health pressure group, said: "There is a huge idea among parents that fruit juice is good for you and sugar is bad.

"But fruit juices rot your teeth. They contain the same sugars as the sugar bowl."

The British Diatetic Association's Lyndel Costain said: "Those most at risk are the ones who are always topping up their blood sugar levels by sipping all day from a bottle. Another worry is that a recent survey found that too much juice can lead to diarrhoea in toddlers."

Tests found that it took about half a pint of fruit juice a day to effect toddlers.

But many drink much more - and for some it makes up 60 per cent of their calorie intake.

When the scientists gave the children less juice, and more milk, they started to match the growth rates of toddlers the same age.

The new research has highlighted a possible link between the pounds 800million spent on fruit juices each year in Britain and the horrifying increase in tooth decay among children.

This has increased dramatically in the last seven years with as many as 44 per cent of five-year-olds now having decay in their baby teeth. In the worst cases toddlers can suffer enamel erosion when the whole surface of a tooth is worn away and it breaks off.

Juices already contain natural sugars, and the ones labelled "pure unsweetened" should not contain added sugar.

But if there's no declaration on the label, manufacturers are free to add three teaspoons of sugar per litre of juice, to "adjust" for variations in sweetness of different types of fruit.

And if juice is labelled "sweetened" the makers may add between three and 20 teaspoons of sugar per litre.

Unsweetened juice has about a teaspoon and a half of sugar per litre depending on which fruit it is from- pineapple is the sweetest.

But despite the growing concern over fruit juices, they CAN still play a role in a toddler's diet. Lyndel Costain said: "There is a place for fruit juice if it is restricted to meal times.

"For it contains vitamin C which helps toddlers absorb the iron in their food.

"This is necessary as toddlers can be prone to iron deficiencies."

So how much juice SHOULD you give your child?

American health experts recommend that babies under six months shouldn't be given juice, and some suggest waiting until after their first birthday.

A few fluid ounces a day is the maximum, since apple juice contains two kinds of sugar that tots cannot absorb.

The American Academy of Paediatrics say that drinking juice from a bottle should be discouraged, and young children should not drink more than half a pint - or a third of a litre - of fruit juice a day.

The British Dietetic Association recommends fruit juice be diluted to one part juice and four-to-six parts water for young children.

"And if your child is drinking juice, ensure they use a straw because it stops the juice bathing the teeth and can help reduce tooth decay," said Lyndel Costain.

Cutting down children's juice consumption can also have other benefits.

Lyndel Costain said: "Parents who have cut down on juice have noticed that children who are fussy eaters have an improved appetite, and temper tantrums are reduced."

Copyright 1997 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.