Sweet drinks _ whether Kool-Aid with
sugar or all-natural apple juice _ seem to raise the
risk of pudgy preschoolers getting fatter, new research
suggests. That may come as a surprise to parents who
pride themselves on seeking out fruit drinks with no
added sugar.
"Juice is definitely a part of this,"
said lead researcher Jean Welsh of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
While fruit juice does have vitamins,
nutritionists say it's inferior to fresh fruit. The
new U.S. dietary guidelines, for example, urge consumers
away from juice, suggesting they eat whole fruit instead.
The bottom line, though, is that "children
need very few calories in their day," Welsh said.
"Sweet drinks are a source of added
sugar in the diet."
She said preschoolers were better off
snacking on fruit or drinking water or milk.
Welsh's research, published in the February
issue of Pediatrics, found that for 3- and 4-year-olds
already on the heavy side, drinking something sweet
once or twice a day doubled their risk of becoming seriously
overweight a year later.
The sweet drinks seemed to have little
effect, however, on children of normal weight.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
limiting preschoolers to 4 to 6 ounces of juice per
day. Some parents and schools are paying attention.
One Chicago Head Start program banned
juice last year as part of an anti-obesity effort after
finding that one out of five of its students was obese.
Monica Dillion, community health nurse
for the Howard Area Family Center, said the preschool
also added more fruits and vegetables to meals and more
exercise to the daily schedule. The preschool has never
served soft drinks.
The juice ban drew no complaints, Dillion
said. "The kids didn't notice at all."
The Pediatrics study followed 10,904
Missouri children in a nutrition program for low-income
families. Researchers looked at the effect of sweet
drinks in three groups: normal and underweight children,
those at risk of becoming overweight, and those who
already were overweight.
The researchers compared the children's
heights and weights, approximately one year apart. They
also looked at parents' reports of what their children
ate and drank during a four-week period at the beginning
of the first year. Fruit drinks like Kool-Aid and Hi-C
were included as sweet drinks, along with juice and
soda.
The link between sweet drinks and being
overweight showed up for all three weight categories,
although it wasn't statistically significant for the
normal and underweight children.
Taking into account other differences,
such as ethnicity, birth weight and a high-fat diet,
didn't erase the effect of sweet drinks.
The children in the study drank, on
average, more fruit juice than soft drinks or sweetened
fruit drinks.
Sweet drinks are high in calories and
low in fiber. Nutritionists believe that calorie-dense,
low-fiber foods may lead to overeating because those
foods are quickly consumed but less filling than foods
higher in fiber.
The authors suggest that limiting sweet
drinks may help solve the growing problem of childhood
obesity. One in five American children is overweight,
according to the National Institutes of Health.
The study defined at-risk children as
those whose size put them in the 85th to 95th percentile
in growth charts. A child in the 85th percentile would
be heavier than 85 percent of children of the same gender
and age.
Richard H. Adamson, vice president for
scientific and technical affairs at the American Beverage
Association, questioned the study's methods, saying
it didn't take into account television viewing, overweight
parents and the children's activity levels.
But Dr. Rebecca Unger, who evaluates
overweight children in private practice and at Children's
Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said the study backs up
what she sees in the real world.
"We do see kids do well when we cut
out juice," she said. "Sometimes that's all they need
to do."
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On the Web:
Pediatrics:
CDC:
www.pediatrics.org
www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/bmi-for-age.htm
