Q: The juice bottle I drink from has pictures of fruit on it, so it’s healthy for me, right?

Answer:

There are a lot of fruit drinks at school, the store, and advertised on TV that may seem like healthy choices. Some popular brands include Sunny D, Fruitopia, Hawaiian Punch, Capri Sun, and Hi-C. Even though these drinks have pictures of fruit or a fun cartoon on the label, they usually have little to no fruit juice in them.

Most of these fruit drinks contain the same amount or more sugar than sodas. For example, a can of soda (12 ounces) has 9 teaspoons of sugar in it. The same amount of Hawaiian Punch has almost 11 teaspoons of sugar. If you drink a 20-ounce bottle of Hawaiian Punch you’re getting 18 teaspoons of sugar!

In addition to having a lot of sugar, sodas and fruit drinks do not have any of the vitamins and minerals needed to grow into a healthy teenager. These sugary drinks can also cause tooth decay or cavities.

It is important to choose healthy drinks, like low fat milk and water, most of the time. This is because milk has calcium, a mineral that helps bones stay strong for fun activities, like playing sports. Next time you eat at school, choose low fat milk with your breakfast or lunch.

Water is another healthy choice when you’re thirsty. Whether you know it or not, we lose water everyday by sneezing, talking, and being active. A healthy way to refill our bodies is to drink a few glasses of water everyday. The next time you go by the water fountain at school, stop to take a few sips or take a water bottle with you to school.

Fruit juice can be another healthy drink option. Fruit juice is different than the fruit drinks we talked about it. Fruit juice must have the words “100% juice” on the label. This means that the drink is all fruit juice and has little added sugars. A glass of fruit juice can be a healthy choice but choose low fat milk and water most of the time.

Jennifer Prish, MS, RD, LDN

Activity:

Find It!

Good nutrition is being discussed everywhere. See if you can find the cartoon strip in today’s Herald-Sun Healthy Living section that relates to vitamins and good grades.