Consumption Patterns of Milk and 100% Juice in Relation to Diet Quality and Body Weight Among United States Children: Analyses of NHANES 2011-16 Data
Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended placing limits on the consumption of milk and 100% juice by children.Methods: Consumption data for 9,069 children aged 2–19 years came from three cycles of the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination...
Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended placing limits on the consumption of milk and 100% juice by children.
Methods: Consumption data for 9,069 children aged 2–19 years came from three cycles of the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2011-2016). Beverages were classified into 100% juices, milk (whole, reduced fat, and skim), caloric sugar sweetened beverages (SSB), low calorie beverages (LCB), and drinking water. The Healthy Eating Index 2015 and Nutrient Rich Food Index NRF9.3 were two measures of diet quality. Analyses examined consumption patterns for milk and 100% juice in relation to diet quality, AAP recommendations, and BMI z-scores across time and for different age groups.
Results: Intakes of milk and 100% juice declined sharply with age, whereas SSB and water increased. Top quartiles of HEI 2015 and NRF9.3 diet quality scores were associated with higher intakes of water, milk, and 100% juice and with lower intakes of SSB. Lower-income groups drank less skim milk and water and more whole milk and SSB. Only 30% of the children consumed any 100% juice. There was no association between the consumption of milk or 100% juice and BMI z-scores for any age group.
Conclusions: Top quartiles of diet quality were associated with more milk, 100% juice, and water, and less SSB. Higher quality diets were associated with lower compliance with the AAP 100% juice recommendations. Compliance with the AAP 100% juice recommendations was not associated with lower body weights. Attempts to limit the consumption of milk and 100% juice by children might have the unintended consequence of increasing consumption of SSB and may have limited value for obesity prevention.
"There was no relation between fruit juice consumers and body weight status. There was no relation between milk consumption and body weight status. There was no significant relation between water consumption and body weight status."
"Paradoxically, better compliance with AAP guidelines (i.e., less juice) was associated with lower dietary nutrient density scores (i.e., more SSB)."
