More Research on Fruit Juices and Weight Gain

Last month, I wrote about a review of research that questioned whether kids who drink more fruit juice are more prone to be overweight. Today, there's a new study out looking at the question and it, too, finds no link; the results show that kids ages 2 to 11 who drank 100 percent juice tended to have better intake of nutrients like vitamin C than kids who did not and that drinking juice wasn't related to weight status.

The study, which appears in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, also found that kids who drink juice had lower intakes of saturated fats and added sugars. The juice drinkers were more likely to eat more whole fruits, too, suggesting that kids who are drinking 100 percent juice also tend to have other good eating habits.

And because whole fruit still has the added benefit of fiber, which is not available from drinking juice, it is still the better option. The University of California, San Francisco's Children's Hospital has a neat list of suggestions for encouraging your children to eat their fruits and veggies.