New guidelines: no fruit juice for kids under 1 year

The American Academy of Pediatrics is updating its guidelines for how much fruit juice children should consume based on evidence tying juice to tooth decay and excessive weight gain.

• Children under 1 year old shouldn't drink any fruit juice, a revision from the previous recommendation that infants under 6 months shouldn't be given juice.
• Toddlers, ages 1 to 3, should drink no more than 4 oz. of juice per day; children ages 4 to 6 should be limited to 4 to 6 oz. and those ages 7 to 18 shouldn't have more than 8 oz. per day, or 1 cup of the 2 to 2 1/2 cups of their daily fruit recommendation.

The authors say children should be encouraged eat fresh fruit high in vitamins, nutrients and fiber instead.