Hospital for Children

Parent Education - Caring for Kids

Guidelines To Cut Down Juice Drinkers

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American children are juice-a-holics!

Many kids are consuming entirely too much fruit juice. The American Academy of Pediatrics has released new guidelines outlining how much fruit juice children should drink.

No fruit juice should be given to a baby under 6 months of age
Children should not be given juice in bottles or cups that allow them to sip it throughout the day.
Children should not be given juice at bedtime.
Children ages 1 to 6 should have only 4 to 6 ounces of juice a day.
Children ages 7 to 18 should have only 8 to 12 ounces of juice a day.
Children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits.

One hundred percent fruit juices that don't have artificial sweeteners and flavors can be a healthy part of a child's diet. But too much juice can cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, flatulence, bloating and even lead to malnutrition if the juice replaces milk or formula.

An overabundance of juice is also contributing to obesity and tooth decay in children.

This page was last updated on: May 17, 2007.

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