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Fruit Juice Reviewed

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement about Fruit Juice, for the full report visit aap.org. Below we summarized the findings and recommendations.

1. Juice should never be given infants who are under 6 months of age.
2. Do not give juice to infants in bottles or easily transportable covered cups that allow them to consume juice throughout day.
3. Infants should never be given juice at bedtime.
4. Daily intake of fruit juice should be limited to 4 to 6 oz/d for children 1 to 6 years old and 8 to 12 oz/d for children 7 to 18 years old
5. Consumption of whole fruits is preferable to drinking of fruit juice.
6. In evaluating obese children one should determine quantity of juice consumed.
7. In evaluating children with chronic diarrhea, excessive flatulence, abdominal pain, and bloating, one should determine quantity of juice consumed.
8. In the evaluation of dental caries, the amount and means of juice consumption should be determined.
9. Primary Care MDs should discuss the consumption of fruit juice and fruit drinks and should educate parents about differences between the two.