What’s in Your Drink?
What’s in your drink? Although most adults believe that giving children is healthy, however, they don’t realize how much sugar is in juice. For example, grape juice contains more sugar than any other type of juice. A 12 ounce glass of grape juice contains over 58 grams of sugars.
Although it is sometimes recommended as a good choice for toddlers and children, apple juice is very high in sugar. 12 ounces of apple juice contains 39 grams of sugar or about 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Orange juice contains less sugar than grape and apple juice. However, it has 33 grams per 12 ounce serving.
Always read your labels for the amount of sugar in drinks. Here’s the formula: Grams of Sugar ÷ 4 = Teaspoons of Sugar
Calories from sugar in drinks for children and adults add up. From the CDC website at , here is a list of drinks and calories.
Type of Beverage / Calories in 12 ounces / Calories in 20 ouncesFruit punch / 192 / 320
100% apple juice / 192 / 300
100% orange juice / 168 / 280
Lemonade / 168 / 280
Regular lemon/lime soda / 148 / 247
Regular cola / 136 / 227
Sweetened lemon iced tea (bottled, not homemade) / 135 / 225
Tonic water / 124 / 207
Regular ginger ale / 124 / 207
Sports drink / 99 / 165
Fitness water / 18 / 36
Unsweetened iced tea / 2 / 3
Diet soda (with aspartame) / 0* / 0*
Carbonated water (unsweetened) / 0 / 0
Water / 0 / 0
*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label.
( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)
Milk contains vitamins and other nutrients that contribute to good health, but it also contains calories. Choosing low-fat or fat-free milk is a good way to reduce your calorie intake and still get the nutrients that milk contains.
Type of Milk / Calories per cup (8 ounces)Chocolate milk (whole) / 208
Chocolate milk (2% reduced-fat) / 190
Chocolate milk (1% low-fat) / 158
Whole Milk (unflavored) / 150
2% reduced-fat milk (unflavored) / 120
1% low-fat milk (unflavored) / 105
Fat-free milk (unflavored) / 90
*Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label.
( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference)
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Caring for Our Children 3rd edition, which has the national standards for the health and safety of children in child care, has several recommendations. First, child care providers and teachers should ask parents/guardians if juice and fruit is provided to the child at home. Child care providers and teachers need this information to know when and how much juice to serve.
How much?
Children ages 1-6 years should drink no more than a total of four to six ounces a day. Children ages seven through twelve years of age should drink no more than a total of eight to twelve ounces of fruit juice per day. These amounts include whatever the child drinks at home. Infants should not be given any fruit juice before twelve months of age. Whole fruit, mashed or pureed, is recommended for infants seven months up to one year of age.
What kind?
The child care center should serve only full-strength (100%) pasteurized fruit juice from a cup to children twelve months of age or older. Juice should have no added sweeteners. Fruit juice drinks containing less than 100% have a high sugar content and should be avoided.
Whole fruit is more nutritious than fruit juice and provides dietary fiber. Fruit juice which is 100% offers no nutritional advantage over whole fruits.
How often?
The facility should offer juice at specific meals and snacks instead of continuously throughout the day.
Juice should be offered for specific meals and snacks to reduce acids that are produced by bacteria in the mouth and cause tooth decay. Continuous consumption of juice during the day has been associated with a decrease in appetite for other nutritious foods which can result in feeding problems and overweight/obesity.
American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education. 2011. Caring for our children: National health and safety performance standards; Guidelines for early care and education programs. 3rd Edition. Elk Grove Village, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; Washington, DC: American Public Health Association. Also available at