A mother questioned me on the subject of juice last week. But, why, she asked, why do you say that I shouldn't give juice to my kids? Because you don't want to get them hooked on that garbage, I replied. Your twins are only 15 months old. Don't let them get used to the taste of juice because eventually they'll reject milk and water. So many kids in this country can't drink plain water by the time they're five years old and then it's a slippery slope to drinking sodas and iced teas. The mother continued to press the subject by saying that she thought water was so boring. Think about tooth decay, I had to say, and the unnecessary sugar calories that you'll be saving your kids. Apparently, 10-15% of calories a day in an American diet come from sugary drinks. Even the drinks that proclaim themselves to be 100% juice just encourage a sweet tooth. A child is far better off eating a piece of fresh fruit than sucking on a sippy cup filled with juice.
I had to invoke my own children to try to convince this mother about the evils of juice; I told her that Max would drink juice all day if I he could, but if no juice is in my fridge, he drinks milk or water. With vitamin D and calcium defiencies being hot topics in medicine these days, it's especially important to make sure that kids get their three dairy servings a day. After all this discussion, the mother didn't look entirely convinced. I wonder if she left my office to head to Shop Rite to stock up on Kool Aid.
I think I am one of the only moms who doesn't regularly give my child juice (I occasionally give her a 1/4 juice 3/4 water combo). AND, I don't go to the bakery at the grocery store and get her a cookie when we are shopping. Sugar is something I try to keep out of her diet. She doesn't need it, and I don't need a hyped up toddler! LOL
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth! So glad to hear you agree with the no-juice philosophy. But I have to admit that I've been at the grocery store on more than one occasion when I've opened a bag of cookies and let my kids have one (or two or three) while we shop. I'm going to try harder to restrain myself next time!
ReplyDeleteWe go to the deli first to get some low-sodium lunch meats. They give me a few slices to sample and DD eats those while we shop. You could do that w/cheese, too.
ReplyDeleteI will admit to giving my daughter chocolate milk. We just have a hard time getting her to drink enough milk. She hates whole, and will only sometimes tolerate 2%. So I mix 2% milk w/whole chocolate milk 50/50 and give to her w/her meals.