Students and Parents Alike Need to Know More About Choosing the Healthiest Drinks

24/08/06 Parents across the country are hearing the message loud and clear -- it is not just about what children eat, drinks count too. The role of beverages in a child's diet is front and center in the obesity debate with industry leaders recently establishing new guidelines for beverages in schools. Although this agreement removes the temptation of sugary sodas from school vending machines, students and parents alike will still need to sharpen their beverage IQ to know how to choose the healthiest drinks.

"Parents may think a beverage with the word 'fruit' or 'juice' on the label is healthier than soft drinks," says Gail Rampersaud, M.S., R.D. with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. "That's true if it's 100% juice, but many fruit flavored beverages don't make the grade."

Shelved right alongside nutritious juices are various fruit "ades," "cocktails" and "drinks" that look healthy but contain very little 100% fruit juice and lots of added sugar. It's important to know how to tell the difference because, while the packaging may look quite similar, the drinks differ considerably in ingredients and nutritional value.

So what do you need to know to ensure you are making the right choice? According to Rampersaud, it all starts with the percentage of pure juice. "The percent of fruit juice should be the first thing to look for on the label. You want to find a product that specifically says 100% fruit juice, like '100% orange juice,' because that tells you it contains the natural juice found in whole fruit along with the nutrients naturally found in that juice. Gail offers the following tips to help confused parents interpret the nutritional value of juice beverages:

--  Make sure additions don't subtract from the overall nutritional value. For example, fortifying a beverage with vitamin C allows manufacturers to state it provides "100% vitamin C."  However, this claim often deflects attention from added sugars and the fact that other essential nutrients are missing.  By comparison, 100% orange juice provides vitamin C with no added sugar -- only the same naturally occurring sugars found in fresh fruit -- plus a variety of other vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

--  Beware of "drinks," "ades," "punches," "cocktails" and other cleverly worded "beverages."  These drinks have added sugars, are typically low in nutrients, and don't help fulfill fruit intake recommendations.Keep in mind, the USDA Dietary Guidelines identify only one beverage as a recommended option to help meet fruit intake recommendations -- 100% fruit juice.

--  Read the nutrition facts label to compare nutrients, ingredients, serving size and servings per container.

Nutritional standout

Even within the 100% juice category, not all juices are created equal in terms of nutritional value. Orange juice is one of the best choices because it naturally contains more and a wider variety of vitamins and minerals compared to many other popular 100% fruit juices. "Children of all ages can help increase their intake of critical nutrients like vitamin C, potassium and folate by drinking 100% orange juice," said Rampersaud. "The nutrients found in orange juice may help promote a healthy immune system, contribute to heart health and may also help protect against certain cancers when consumed as part of a healthy diet."

So to ace beverage 101 this school year, remember first to look for 100% juice and then check out the nutrition label to make sure the juice is rich in vitamins and minerals.