A longitudinal study of fruit juice consumption during preschool years and subsequent diet quality and BMI

The role of fruit juice in pediatric dietary guidelines continues to be controversial, particularly with respect to concerns about unhealthy dietary habits and the potential promotion of excessive weight gain. The objective of the current study was to determine the association between preschool fruit juice consumption and the following outcomes during childhood and adolescence: whole and total fruit intake, diet quality, likelihood of meeting current dietary recommendations, and BMI change.

The data were previously collected from 100 children enrolled in the Framingham Children's Study at 3-6 years of age and subsequently followed for 10 years. Dietary data were collected annually using multiple sets of 3-day diet records. Compliance with dietary recommendations was estimated based on 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and diet quality was measured using the associated Healthy Eating Index (HEI). Mixed linear and logistic regression models were used for statistical analyses.

Preschool children (3-6 years) who drank ≥1.0 (vs. < 0.5) cup of 100% fruit juice/day consumed 0.9 cups/day more total fruit (p < 0.0001) and 0.5 cups/day more whole fruit (p < 0.0001) during adolescence (14-18 years). Total HEI scores during adolescence for those with the highest preschool juice intakes were almost 6 points higher than those with the lowest fruit juice intakes (p = 0.0044). Preschoolers consuming < 0.5 cups/day of fruit juice had sharply declining whole fruit intake throughout childhood compared with those preschoolers consuming ≥1.0 cups/day who had stable intakes of whole fruit throughout childhood. Those children who consumed ≥0.75 cups/day of fruit juice during preschool (vs. less) were 3.8 times as likely to meet Dietary Guidelines for whole fruit intake during adolescence (p < 0.05). Finally, in multivariable models, there was no association between fruit juice consumption and BMI change throughout childhood.

These data suggest that preschool consumption of 100% fruit juice is associated with beneficial effects on whole fruit intake and diet quality without having any adverse effect on BMI during childhood and into middle adolescence.