Sipping on juices isn’t healthy for your baby

You must have heard this before, “Eat whole fruits instead of juices. Avoid packaged fruit juices.” Yet, we sip on artificially sweetened juices. Even if we are having diluted fresh fruit juices, we are missing out on the fibre of the fruit. If a baby or a child is made to have mainly juices, it is even more harmful to her/ him.

Nutritionist Niti Desai says, “Till six months of age, a baby just has breast milk. Sipping endlessly on fruit juices will make her/ him obese. Also, fruit juices cause dental cavities. They should have vegetable broth instead.”

Paediatrician and author Dr.Spock points out that of all weaning foods, the fluid which is most at fault is apple juice as it provides hardly any nutrition for the calories. He further warns that though juice is simple to make it can cause a whole range of ailments. Not only can it cause obesity from empty calories but also malnutrition as the child is being debarred from nutrition by being made to consume empty calories.

He further recommends that the juice should be diluted with water and the child shouldn’t drink over four to six ounces of juice in a day.  To prevent tooth decay he recommends skipping sugary juices. A baby should be given fruit juice in a cup and not a bottle to prevent tooth decay.

It is recommended that a child below six months isn’t given juices as it offers no nutritional benefit at this age. Kids shouldn’t be served mocktails and sweetened fruit juices. Instead of making kids sip on fruit juices throughout the day, they should be given fruit juice with a snack or a meal. They shouldn’t be served juice thirty minutes before a meal.

Instead of making your child have juices, encourage her/ him to have whole fruits. Sipping fruit juices may lead to making your child a picky eater and bring about a change in her/ his bowel habits. Kids may have a problem with digesting fruit juices which may cause loose bowel actions and diarrhoea. When taken off juices, her/ his bowel movements may be normalized.

A fluid which you should encourage your child to have is water. It is an essential nutrient not just for adults but for kids too. Water may be consumed as much as needed and lemon may be squeezed into it. Coconut water is another healthy option for kids as it is low in sugar and high in potassium, antioxidants and electrolytes.

#fruit, #juices, #baby, #nutrition, #apple, #food, #mocktails, #digestion, #calories, #water

https://pixabay.com/photos/smoothies-juice-fruits-fruit-ripe-2253430/: Picture courtesy: Image by silviarita from Pixabay 

 

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