We are often told to consume whole fruit rather than drinking their juice. The reason is the belief that fruits are much healthier than only their watery content. But did you know that consumption of fruit juices in the early years can lead to better dietary patterns without causing weight gain?
A study published in BMC Nutrition and conducted by Lynn L. Moore and colleagues at Boston University stated that 100 percent fruit juice consumption was related to a higher intake of whole fruit and better quality of diet through childhood and into adolescence. The research was done by tracking diet records and height-weight of 100 kids in the age bracket of the 3–6 age group. These kids enrolled in the Framingham Children’s Study and were followed for a decade to understand the impact of these dietary patterns. The whole fruit consumption was measured using the recommendations of Guidelines for Americans (DGA) at each age.
Some of the observations were that pre-school kids with a higher intake of 100 percent fruit juice had much higher intakes of whole fruit and total fruit in the age group of 14-17 years. These kids were also almost 4 times more likely to follow dietary recommendations of DGA during adolescence as compared to kids with low intakes. The diet quality scores for the former lot were much higher too as compared to the kids who didn’t consume 100 percent fruit juice in their pre-school days. Finally, fruit juices were also in no way related to the increase in Body Mass Index (BMI) during childhood or adolescence.
Fruit consumption has innumerable benefits in life. While raising your children, make sure you give a good amount of 100 percent fruit juices rather than keeping them from drinking it due to the misconception of their eating habits that might cause them to grow overweight.
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