When buying a commercially sold beverage for their child, many parents opt for a fruit drink as a healthy option. A new British study shows that this is not necessarily the case, as nearly half of the drinks they sampled were not so good for you, with many containing an entire day’s worth of sugar in a single serving. The study, from the University of Liverpool, states that parents have been misled into thinking these drinks are healthy. Simon Capewell, lead researcher for the study, says that smoothies are the worst offenders. The study was published in the journal BMJ Open on March 24.
Capewell says that the solution is offering fresh fruit to children rather than juice. If giving a child juice, offer an unsweetened variety, dilute it with water, and only serve it during a meal. The amount of juice per day should be limited to about 5 ounces. He also said manufacturers should stop adding sugar and calories to their products.
Fruit juice advocates don’t agree, saying parents should feel good about serving 100 percent juice to their children. The research they cited says drinking juice in appropriate amounts is not associated with higher levels of cavities or weight gain. Nutritionist Nancy Copperman, assistant vice president of public health at Great Neck, New York’s, Northwell Health has a different opinion, and agrees with Capewell’s study findings that the empty calories in fruit juice and other drinks are a problem that “crosses continents.”
Researchers in the UK study analyzed 203 products, including 158 fruit juice drinks, 24 smoothies and 21 fresh juices to determine their sugar content. The drinks were on sale at seven supermarkets in the UK. When calculating the quantity of “free sugar” in a 100ml serving the researchers found an average sugar content of 7 grams per 100ml, with ranges from zero grams to 16 grams. Free sugar is defined as extra sugar added by the manufacturers, but does not include the sugar naturally found in fruit.
Fruit juices labeled 100 percent pure averaged 10.7 grams of sugar per 100ml, juice drinks 5.6 grams per 100ml, and smoothies 13 grams per 100ml. Eighty-five of the products examined contained at least 19 grams of sugar, which is equal to the maximum recommended daily sugar intake for UK children. Some of the smoothies contained up to 8 teaspoons of sugar in a 200ml serving, three times the recommended daily limit.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that, in order to avoid weight gain, obesity and tooth decay, sugar intake should not exceed 10 percent, and is preferable at only 5 percent, of the total daily energy intake.