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Fruit Juice
100% fruit juice is a concentrated form of sugar that naturally occurs in fruit. It takes a lot of fruit to make a small glass of fruit juice. To compare equal amounts of naturally occurring sugar, you would need to compare a tennis-ball sized orange to ½ cup orange juice. When juice is made, the fiber content of the fruit is removed. Therefore when you drink fruit juice, you do not get any “fullness” feeling from drinking the juice. The amount of calories and  sugar included in a glass of juice is equivalent to what is in regular soda. Many parents think they need to provide juice to their children to provide a source of vitamin C. This is not true. Lack of vitamin C is not a concern for children and there are many other sources of vitamin C for children to include.
Sports Drinks
Sports drinks were originally created for college football players who were participating in LONG practice sessions in the hot, humid weather of a Florida summer. Sports drinks are not needed for the typical athlete (or anyone else). Sports drinks include extra salt and sugar, as well as it is high in calories. Water is going to be the best option to stay hydrated while physically active.
The Nutirtion Facts Label
The only way to know what is going to include added sugar is to look at the Nutrition Facts label. When finding the best drink options to include, look at the number of grams of sugar (listed under Total Carbohydrate). Look for products that include less than 3 grams of sugar/8 ounce serving.
Diluting Fruit Juice
If your child is currently large amounts of fruit juice and is resistant to not drinking the juice, one step you can start with is to dilute the juice with extra water. If you are making the juice from concentrate, you can add extra water when you are making the juice. When pouring a glass of juice for your child, you can also add more water to the glass. First start by filling the glass halfway full with juice and filling the remainder with water. This reduces the amount of sugar by half in a serving. With time, you should be able to use less and less juice, while using more water.
Milk
Milk has naturally occurring sugars in it. An 8 ounce glass of milk is going to include 12 grams of sugar which is “okay” considering the other health benefits your child will gain from drinking the milk. An 8 ounce glass of chocolate milk will double the amount of sugar compared to regular white milk. Selecting skim or 1% milk reduces or removes the unhealthy fat from milk. Selecting a low fat or fat free milk does not change the vitamins and minerals provided.
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