| There is no such thing as "hidden calories." Just look at | | | | to estimate how many calories your children and teens |
| the nutrition label and you will see in seconds the | | | | are adding from these drinks: |
| number of calories, carbs, sugar, protein and fat. The | | | | Calories in 12 and 20 oz. of Sugary Beverages |
| Juice Boxes: 100% Natural Juice and Filled with Calorie | | | | Type of Beverage |
| and Sugar and can add hundreds of calories a day | | | | Fruit punch ----------- 192 ----- 320 |
| that are not needed and easily replaced with zero | | | | 100% apple juice --- 192 ------300 |
| calorie and zero sugar alternatives. | | | | 100% orange juice - 168 -----280 |
| "Natural" Fruits Juices are NOT Natural: | | | | Lemonade - -----------168 -----280 |
| Orange juice, grape juice or apple juice whether you | | | | Regular lemon/lime soda - 148 ---247 |
| squeeze it or Tropicana or Motts squeezes it are not | | | | Regular cola - ------------------136 ---227 |
| "natural." Quarts of orange juice or apples do not grow | | | | Sweetened lemon iced tea - 135-- 225 |
| on trees nor do boxes of grape juice grow on vines. | | | | Regular ginger ale ------------ 124 --207 |
| It's the fruit itself that is"natural" and healthy. Squeezing | | | | Sports drink - --------------------99 ----165 |
| and manipulating the fruit only removes the protective | | | | Fitness water- ------------------18------ 36 |
| fibers making absorption from the stomach even | | | | Unsweetened iced tea - -------2 --------3 |
| faster. What you end up with is a highly palatable, | | | | Diet soda (with aspartame)--- 0*-------- 0* |
| convenient and inexpensive drink that has hundreds of | | | | Carbonated water (unsweetened)- 0---- 0 |
| extra calories. Coincident with the rise in childhood | | | | Water --------------------------------------- 0 ----0 |
| obesity was the movement of fruit juices from purely | | | | *Some diet soft drinks can contain a small number of |
| breakfast drinks to all day drinks. Children pick up a | | | | calories that are not listed on the nutrition facts label. |
| box of juice as they might pick up and drink a glass of | | | | ( USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard |
| water. | | | | Reference) |
| Fruit juice has become the drink of choice for many | | | | Consequence of a single 100-130 calorie drink every |
| young children replacing milk and water. | | | | day for a year: |
| Juice boxes are everywhere-at home, schools, | | | | Remember that 100 calories a day of any food or |
| daycare and of course, the vending machines. Juice is | | | | beverage adds 10 lbs. weight gain over a year. |
| being aggressively marketed as a 'wholesome drink | | | | Combine the calories with all of the sugar in a tasty |
| for growing bodies'. It's the new milk. Packaged in small | | | | beverage and you have a disaster to adults, children |
| easy to hold boxes with their own straw they can be | | | | and teen's waist line: An extra 100 calories a day |
| carried everywhere. With labels saying how healthy | | | | translates into a 2 inch increase in waist diameter. |
| they are and with tastes designed to entice, no | | | | Each 2 inches increases obesity related complications |
| wonder there is such a problem. Drinking fruit juices, | | | | by 17% |
| especially the citrus ones cause rapid rises and falls in | | | | Normal child and teen weight gain: |
| blood sugar and need for more and more sugar. Fruit | | | | With over 33% of children and teens overweight, and |
| juice contains no fiber and kids that drink them regularly | | | | 14% actually obese, the extra calories in some of |
| rarely drink water. Not all fruit juices are 100% juice. | | | | these drinks becomes crucial in reducing childhood |
| Some contain high fructose corn syrup or other | | | | obesity. If you look at the tables showing the normal |
| sweeteners as well as artificial colors and | | | | growth and height of children from 6 to 16 years of |
| preservatives. Most juice boxes have 100 calories and | | | | age, you will see that it is normal of a child to gain |
| 20 grams of sugar. A child drinking just one juice box a | | | | about 10 lbs. a year.Adding just a single juice box, a |
| day, similar to soft drinks or sports drinks, will gain 10 lb. | | | | day doubles the weight gain to 20 lb. a year. |
| in a year if it represents excess calories. Almost no | | | | No additional weight gain may be the goal: |
| children reduce calories during the day to make up for | | | | The concept for many families is not always to look |
| the added calories of the juice. They quickly become a | | | | for weight loss in growing children, just an end to extra |
| source of extra calories that were never needed in | | | | weight gain may be good enough for some. For |
| the first place. | | | | others, one needs to simply bring down the yearly |
| There are "NO Hidden Calories in Beverages: | | | | weight gain to zero. Very few children and teens |
| Calories in drinks are not hidden they're listed right on | | | | actually need to reduce their weight by significant |
| the Nutrition Facts label, but many people don't realize | | | | numbers. |
| just how many calories beverages can contribute to | | | | The ideal plan is to let normal growth and development |
| their daily intake. As you can see in the example | | | | result in the overweight child achieving normal weight in |
| below, calories from drinks can really add up. However, | | | | a year or two and the normal weight overeating child |
| the good news is that there area a lot of zero calorie | | | | to remain normal. |
| or near zero calorie alternatives. Check the list below | | | | |