New Fruit Juice Guidelines have big change for babies

Who does not like to have fruit juice? A glass of pure fruit juice is any day better than a glass of aerated beverage. Kids love it a great deal. However, anything is excess can have detrimental effects of the health of children. This applies to fruit juices as well. Sensing the fact that fruit juices can contain high levels of sugar, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has come up with new recommendations on the consumption of fruit juices by children up to the age of 18 years. We shall look at the big changes in the offing as far as babies are concerned.

It can surprise you that these are the first changes in the guidelines in 16 years. The most notable change is in the consumption of fruit juices by babies in their first year. The previous recommendations permitted the consumption of fruit juices by babies after six months of age.

Here are the latest fruit juice guidelines. We shall break it into two categories, babies up to the age of One year and the toddlers between One year and four years.

Babies up to the age of One year:

The new guidelines advise the parents not to give any kind of fruit juice to babies below six months of age. The guidelines recommend the consumption of breast milk or infant formula. The AAP feels that drinking too much of fruit juice can stunt a child’s growth. After the age of 6 months, the AAP guidelines recommend to give solid whole fruits that have been mashed or pureed. One should avoid giving fruit juices.

Toddlers between One and four years:

The earlier guidelines allowed for giving 6 to 8 ounces of fruit juices per day. The new guidelines reduce the consumption of fruit juices to only 4 ounces per day. This could amount to half a cup. However, one should ensure that you give 100% fruit juice and not fruit drink or beverage. Pasteurization of the fruit juices is essential to prevent contaminations like E. coli or salmonella.

You have just seen the big changes in the guidelines for consumption of fruit juice by babies. This is because the excessive consumption of fruit juices can cause obesity as well as dental problems.