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Have you ever stopped to think about one of the main sources of hidden calories in your children’s diet? We all know that we should limit sweet treats like candy and desserts. But many, many sugar calories come from not from the food our little ones eat but what they drink.
Many pediatricians say not to introduce juice to young kids at all. It is good advice, but a little hard to follow in the real world. But, even if it’s 100% fruit juice, it’s not the same as giving them a serving of whole fruit, which contains fiber along with the nutrients. Also, commercially produced juice may lose some of its nutritional value when it's prepackaged and stored for long periods of time. So if your kids are “juice junkies” it’s best to prepare your own homemade juice and smoothies. We have a lot of fun squeezing homemade orange juice. It’s like a glassful of vitamins. You can even add veggies like carrot and beet juices to the mix. Second best would be to give them watered down 100% juice or juice blends. That can cut out a lot of the sugar and you can now find juice boxes that contain a mix of water and juice.
I must confess as a kid, I drank way more Kool Aid (remember Kool Aid?), soda, and chocolate milk than was nutritionally appropriate. They were my main source of liquid refreshment, and probably replaced a lot more nutritious calories. My mom often worried that I was underweight because I wouldn‘t eat more than two bites of dinner, but now looking back, I remember that mostly what I filled up on was drinks. I used to fix a tall glass of chocolate milk right at the start of dinner (the Nestles Quik would be right on the table) with the recommended five heaping spoonfuls making it more like a thick chocolate shake. Going out to eat was always a treat because I would get to have a refreshing glass of Sprite. Then eat my usual two bites of dinner.
I was lucky to be blessed with a pretty quick metabolism but at the same time I still have quite the sweet tooth and try to moderate it to this day. Now I mostly drink water but I can see how this “Juice Abuse” starts young. I really work on getting both my boys to drink water but they strongly prefer juice. It’s usually around three fourths water (unless grandma is pouring) but once they had their first taste of juice; that was it! Especially in the summer, I want to make sure they stay properly hydrated. So I keep giving them water, but they never drink as much of it compared to the watered down juice. One thing I am going to try this summer is water with a squeeze of lemon or orange since they both love citrus fruits.
Another area where kids get a lot of extra sugar is sweetened milk like chocolate and strawberry. Again, I am guilty of giving my kids flavored milk as a very occasional special treat (after all it was such an integral part of my childhood), but I will strongly discourage them from making it a daily habit. On Jamie Oliver’s show Food Revolution, it was stated that more than three quarters of the milk purchased in school cafeterias is flavored milk, adding an additional 28 grams of sugar per bottle. It’s one of those choices that is extremely commonplace in school cafeterias. Concurrent with the show, a petition has been started to remove drinks with added sugar from school food programs.
America is facing an obesity crisis and one of the main sources of extra calories in our diet is sugar. I talked about the new My Plate concept a few weeks ago, in which the US government will be rolling out new nutritional guidelines, including the recommendation to drink mostly water. Do you have any special tricks to get your kids to drink more healthful drinks?
Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
Makes four ½ cup servings.
6 oranges
Lightly roll each orange on counter and cut in half.
Use a citrus juicer or reamer and squeeze into a glass. Strain if desired.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1165-sweet-drinks/
Easy Does It On The Drinks
Have you ever stopped to think about one of the main sources of hidden calories in your children’s diet? We all know that we should limit sweet treats like candy and desserts. But many, many sugar calories come from not from the food our little ones eat but what they drink.
Many pediatricians say not to introduce juice to young kids at all. It is good advice, but a little hard to follow in the real world. But, even if it’s 100% fruit juice, it’s not the same as giving them a serving of whole fruit, which contains fiber along with the nutrients. Also, commercially produced juice may lose some of its nutritional value when it's prepackaged and stored for long periods of time. So if your kids are “juice junkies” it’s best to prepare your own homemade juice and smoothies. We have a lot of fun squeezing homemade orange juice. It’s like a glassful of vitamins. You can even add veggies like carrot and beet juices to the mix. Second best would be to give them watered down 100% juice or juice blends. That can cut out a lot of the sugar and you can now find juice boxes that contain a mix of water and juice.
I must confess as a kid, I drank way more Kool Aid (remember Kool Aid?), soda, and chocolate milk than was nutritionally appropriate. They were my main source of liquid refreshment, and probably replaced a lot more nutritious calories. My mom often worried that I was underweight because I wouldn‘t eat more than two bites of dinner, but now looking back, I remember that mostly what I filled up on was drinks. I used to fix a tall glass of chocolate milk right at the start of dinner (the Nestles Quik would be right on the table) with the recommended five heaping spoonfuls making it more like a thick chocolate shake. Going out to eat was always a treat because I would get to have a refreshing glass of Sprite. Then eat my usual two bites of dinner.
I was lucky to be blessed with a pretty quick metabolism but at the same time I still have quite the sweet tooth and try to moderate it to this day. Now I mostly drink water but I can see how this “Juice Abuse” starts young. I really work on getting both my boys to drink water but they strongly prefer juice. It’s usually around three fourths water (unless grandma is pouring) but once they had their first taste of juice; that was it! Especially in the summer, I want to make sure they stay properly hydrated. So I keep giving them water, but they never drink as much of it compared to the watered down juice. One thing I am going to try this summer is water with a squeeze of lemon or orange since they both love citrus fruits.
Another area where kids get a lot of extra sugar is sweetened milk like chocolate and strawberry. Again, I am guilty of giving my kids flavored milk as a very occasional special treat (after all it was such an integral part of my childhood), but I will strongly discourage them from making it a daily habit. On Jamie Oliver’s show Food Revolution, it was stated that more than three quarters of the milk purchased in school cafeterias is flavored milk, adding an additional 28 grams of sugar per bottle. It’s one of those choices that is extremely commonplace in school cafeterias. Concurrent with the show, a petition has been started to remove drinks with added sugar from school food programs.
America is facing an obesity crisis and one of the main sources of extra calories in our diet is sugar. I talked about the new My Plate concept a few weeks ago, in which the US government will be rolling out new nutritional guidelines, including the recommendation to drink mostly water. Do you have any special tricks to get your kids to drink more healthful drinks?
Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
Makes four ½ cup servings.
6 oranges
Lightly roll each orange on counter and cut in half.
Use a citrus juicer or reamer and squeeze into a glass. Strain if desired.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1165-sweet-drinks/