Fruit juices have a healthy connotation thanks to their vitamin content, but which food group do they really belong to and what are their main nutrients? What place can they have inour children's diet ? When can they be introduced and how often? This article will provide you with the information you may have been missing in order to make the best arrangements for your child now, as you already do on a daily basis!Â
Composition of a fruit juice
First of all, it is important to know that when you squeeze a fruit yourself or buy a commercial fruit juice, you are mainly consuming thewater and sugar in the food. Fruit juices are now, and recently, considered to be sweet products! It is therefore recommended that they be avoided by the youngest and limited thereafter, even in adulthood.
To illustrate my point, here are a few evocative figures:
- 5 whole oranges contain 225 calories, 40g carbohydrates and 11g fibre
- The juice from these 5 oranges, about 500ml, also contains 225 calories but 50g of carbohydrates and only 1g of fibre
As you can see, there is an absence, or at least an insignificant amount, of fibre in the juice compared to the whole fruit. A quick reminder: fibre plays an essential role for the body and serves to ensure good transit (in other words, to avoid constipation), to reduce the absorption of sugars by the intestine and to allow you tofeel full in the long term. Another disadvantage of fruit juices is that they can increase GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease, common in young children) due to their acidity.
In the shops, you will find fruit juices in 3 forms: pressed fruit, pure juice and nectar. Unfortunately, pressed fruit and pure juice contain little fibre, as we saw earlier. As for nectar, which is also low in fibre, the manufacturer has added water and sugar to the original fruit juice. It is therefore preferable to buy the pressed juices or pure juices or to make sure that they say "no sugar added" on the packaging! You will also find "special baby" juices in some supermarket shelves, made from water and concentrated fruit juice, which do not contain any fibre either. There is no reason to take them over a more traditional one.
Vitamin C
The other important point to make in this article is the vitamin C content of fruit juices. Only fruit juices that are pressed (and directly consumed) will naturally contain vitamin C as in the other juices mentioned above, it is often destroyed by light unless vitamin C is added by the manufacturer. Historically, juices were given for their vitamin C content. Today, however, it is known that vitamin C from fruit juices is dispensable because infant milks are fortified with it, and breast milk contains sufficient amounts. As milk, whether from the mother or the baby, is the basis of a young child's diet, there is no need to offer fruit juices and to maintain a sweet taste, but rather to teach them to drink water. It is always more interesting because water must be the basis of hydration!
Again, to confirm my point, the new nutritional reference for vitamin C is 20mg/day for toddlers aged 0-3 years. However, in infant milk, there are 3mg per 100ml. Babies can drink up to 1l of milk per day and eat fruit and vegetables, so their vitamin C needs are more than met! The consumption of fruit juice is therefore not justified in relation to vitamin C. As you will have understood, fruit juice is not of any real nutritional interest, either for children or for older children.
However, fruit juices can be given occasionally, at special meals (family, birthdays, restaurants, etc.), from the age of 3, for the discovery of new tastes, new textures and participation in festivities. If you wish to limit the amount of sugar you offer your child, it is preferable to mix fruit with vegetables, such as broccoli/cucumber/pear juice, apple/carrot/celery juice or beetroot/banana/apple juice... You will thus be able to delight your children's eyes and taste buds with completely original and flavourful mixtures!
Dietician - Nutritionist specialising in paediatrics
Sources
- Avis de l'Anses Rapport d'expertise collective, Les références nutritionnelles en vitamines et minéraux (March 2021)
- CIQUAL : Ciqual Table de composition nutritionnelle des aliments (anses.fr) (October 2021)