Your kids do not need juice, soda, Kool-aid, Milk, etc. They only need water. A new study found that 96% of parents gave their kids sugary drinks regularly. That doesn’t mean just soda, that means juice, Capri Suns, and chocolate milk.
The study, published by researchers at the University of Connecticut, found that the most common sugary drink is fruit drinks.
Here are some other findings that might surprise you:
- About 80% of parents give kids between the ages of 2 and 5 fruit drinks like Capri Sun and/or Sunny D.
- Nearly half of parents believed that flavored waters were healthy.
- More than 25% said fruit drinks and sports drinks were healthy.
- Parents said they were influenced by nutritional claims on the packages — such as claims that the items are “real” or “natural” or contained vitamin C or antioxidants, or were low in sodium or calories.
Kids need breastmilk or formula while they are infants and nothing but water after that. Sure, a little milk is good with breakfast or a bit of grape juice with lunch hits the spot, but too much and the kids are in for trouble.
Renowned pediatrician, Dr. Leila Denmark, spent her entire career telling parents that water was enough for kids. In her book, Every Child Should Have a Chance, published in 1971, she wrote that cow’s milk is harmful to children and that everyone should eat fruit instead of drinking it, and people should only drink water.
If you just have to pass along the juice box, try cutting back and encouraging the kids to drink more water.
