Washington, April 27 (Inditop.com) Children and teens who drink 100 percent fruit juice have higher intakes of key nutrients compared to non-consumers, says a new study.
Two new studies from researchers at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Centre (LSUAC) and Baylor College of Medicine clearly highlight the benefits of drinking 100 percent fruit juice.
Researchers used data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to compare the diets of juice drinkers to non-consumers.
According to the findings, children 2-5 years of age who consumed fruit juice had significantly higher intakes of vitamin C, potassium and magnesium and significantly lower intakes of added sugars compared to non-fruit juice consumers.
Besides, higher intake of fruit juice was directly correlated with increased consumption of whole fruits and whole grains.
Children six to 12 years of age showed a similar positive association between intake of 100 percent juice and higher intakes of the key nutrients, as well as dietary fibre.
Overall diet quality, as assessed by the Healthy Eating Index (a measure that evaluates conformance to federal dietary guidance) was higher in all fruit juice consumers assessed.
The researchers reported that a significantly higher percentage of non-fruit juice consumers two to 18 years of age failed to meet the recommended levels for several key nutrients, including vitamins A and C and folate, compared to those who drank 100 percent juice.
Comparatively, a greater percentage of those in the fruit juice group exceeded Adequate Intake levels for calcium versus non-consumers.
“One hundred percent fruit juice plays an important role in the diets of children and teens, supplying important nutrients during a key period of growth and development,” notes lead researcher Carol O’Neil, according to the LSUAC release
“Drinking 100 percent juice should be encouraged as part of an overall balanced diet.”
These findings were presented at the Experimental Biology (EB) 2010 meeting April 24-28 in Anaheim, California.
