Seems like every day
a new study comes out about how such-and-such is contributing to childhood obesity, so it's
news when you find something that actually doesn't make children overweight. And it looks like 100 percent juice isn't a risky beverage for the wee ones. Quick kids, suck up the o.j. before the next study comes out!
A study of 3,618 kids found that drinking 100 percent juice was not linked to the risk of childhood obesity or becoming overweight. In fact, the kids in the study who drank the most juice had three times less risk of becoming overweight, and actually had healthier diets overall. Researchers also found that 57 percent of the kids in the study didn't drink any juice.
Once my child gets wind of this, it's all over for me as an authority figure (a tenuous position as it is, to be honest.) I'm the kind of freak who thinks juice almost counts as dessert, and offers up whole fruit as an alternative to sucking down grape sugar-water. One of the most noticeable results of this policy is that whenever we go to a birthday party, my child slams down four juice boxes as fast as she can. Then hides a couple boxes in her party favor bag. It's like I'm training her for college drinking.
Maybe I'll see if I can get her to switch over to coffee.
