Fruit Drink - How Much Drink Is Too Much?

The Benefits of Fruit Drink

After all of this talk about the "juice" controversy, is there any reason to give your child drink at all? Many kids don't like eating fruit, so offering fruit drink is one way to get your child the 2 (for younger kids) to 4 servings (older kids) of fruit that is recommended in the Food Pyramid Guide. A 6-ounce glass of 100% fruit drink can substitute for (but is not really equal to) one serving of fruit. The AAP advises that half of your child's fruit servings from the Food Pyramid Guide can come from 100% fruit drink.

Still, it is important to remember that the recommended servings of fruit drink are actually limits. Your child does not need to drink any fruit drink, especially if he is getting the Food Guide Pyramid's recommended servings of fruit by eating whole fruit.

Fruit drink can be helpful for children who are constipated and fruit drink diluted with fluoridated water is a good way to get your child fluoride if he doesn't like to drink plain water.

Does Your Child Have a Problem With Fruit Drink?

In general, if you child is eating a well balanced diet, including some fresh fruits and vegetables, is drinking 16 to 24 ounces a day of milk and dairy products, and doesn't have problems with cavities or being overweight, then he likely doesn't have a drink problem, even if you are exceeding the AAP limits.

If your child is exceeding the AAP limits and is a picky eater, has a poorly balanced diet, cavities, diarrhea, chronic abdominal pain or if he is overweight, then you should consider taking steps to limit his intake of drink. You should definitely avoid letting your child fall asleep with a bottle or cup of drink, since that is probably the biggest risk factor for getting cavities. Also avoid giving 'fruit' drinks or 'fruit' sodas, since they may actually have very little fruit in.

The Fruit Drink 'Problem'

One of the main problems with drinking too much fruit drink, is that it is filling and will decrease your child's appetite for other more nutritious foods. While your child will still get a lot of calories, they will mostly be from sugars or carbohydrates, and not from fat or protein, which can contribute to a poorly balanced diet. Also, fruit drinks generally don't have a lot of vitamins and nutrients, although they do have vitamin C and some are fortified with calcium. Also, if you child is drinking a lot of drink, then he probably isn't drinking much milk, which is a good source of calcium and other vitamins and nutrients

Preventing Problems

How do you prevent problems from drinking too much fruit drink? One easy way is to not introduce drink until your child is six months old. And when you do begin to offer your infant drink, give it in a cup and not a bottle.

Older infants and toddlers generally drink too much drink when they always have a sippie cup in their hands, or if they are sucking on the cup like they would a bottle. Although sippie cups are convenient and it is nice to prevent messes, if you child always has one in his hands, then he is probably most at risk of getting cavities, since his teeth will always have sugar on them.

To prevent your child's cups from becoming a security object for toddlers, it can help to restrict them to meals, when you offer milk, and snacks.

It may also help to change to a "sport's bottle" type cup, which can also prevent spills and messes, but aren't as easy to drink out of as a regular sippie cup.