{"id":727020,"date":"2026-06-26T10:25:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/727020\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:25:28","slug":"the-negative-impacts-of-fruit-juices-and-other-sugary-treats-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/727020\/","title":{"rendered":"The negative impacts of fruit juices and other sugary treats for children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>Drinking <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/life-style\/health-and-families\/orange-juice-benefits-blood-pressure-cholesterol-b2994138.html\">fruit juice<\/a>, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/life-style\/mountain-dew-discontinued-flavor-white-out-b2979880.html\">soda<\/a> and other sweet beverages during childhood may raise the risk of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/health\/high-blood-pressure-research-new-findings-b2914810.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">high blood pressure<\/a> in adulthood, according to new <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ahajournals.org\/journal\/circ\">research<\/a> published Monday.<\/p>\n<p>A study by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/health\/extreme-heat-health-conditions-warning-b3000456.html\">the American Heart Association <\/a>of more than 25,000 Americans aged 9-16 over 25 years revealed that just two or more 12-ounce servings a day raised their risk for developing high blood pressure by 52 percent compared with those who consumed fewer than three servings each week. <\/p>\n<p>High blood pressure \u2013 when the force of blood pushing against vein walls is too high \u2013 contributes to a heightened risk of heart and kidney disease, stroke and dementia. Over <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.heart.org\/news\/the-lowdown-on-high-blood-pressure-what-you-need-to-know\">125 million American adults<\/a> live with high blood pressure, according to the association.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDietary habits in early life can have lasting health consequences,\u201d Dr. Vasanti Malik, an adjunct faculty member at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.heart.org\/news\/does-drinking-juice-soda-during-childhood-increase-the-risk-of-high-blood-pressure\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dHigh blood pressure is also emerging earlier in life, with growing rates being seen in younger adults, in children and adolescents, which highlights the importance of early detection and prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/iStock-931078882.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Drinking fruit juice and other sweet beverages as a kid may greatly raise the risk of high blood pressure later in life, researchers said. High blood pressure raises the risk of heart and kidney disease\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Drinking fruit juice and other sweet beverages as a kid may greatly raise the risk of high blood pressure later in life, researchers said. High blood pressure raises the risk of heart and kidney disease (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/p>\n<p>Drinking 12 ounces of juice a day was tied to a 35 percent higher risk than those who drank less than one serving a week, and soda and sports drinks had a 23 percent and 36 percent higher risk, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>One juice stood out above the rest; each daily serving of orange juice was associated with a 20 percent higher risk, while other juices were not. <\/p>\n<p>But the researchers said that orange-flavored drinks with added sugars may have been misreported as orange juice. <\/p>\n<p>Study participants tracked their food and drink intake and other health factors, taking questionnaires every 1-4 years. They also reported their blood pressure and researchers developed models showing the effects of different drinks.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it\u2019s not how much you\u2019re drinking that matters the most, it\u2019s what, American Heart Association volunteer expert Dr. Amit Khera explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs has been seen in adults, the total amount of fructose seems less important for the development of hypertension than the type of food where it is consumed, so sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice relate to increased risk, while whole fruit does not,\u201d said Khera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecondly, there has been a misconception about fructose in general being harmful for cardiovascular health regardless of the source, and that fruit juices are beneficial for health. This study demonstrates that neither seems to be correct,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-154217312.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Orange juice was identified as the worst for blood pressure risks. But the researchers say their analysis could have mistakenly included orange-flavored drinks with added sugars\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Orange juice was identified as the worst for blood pressure risks. But the researchers say their analysis could have mistakenly included orange-flavored drinks with added sugars (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Drinking and eating better beverages can help to lower risk, the researchers say.<\/p>\n<p>Replace a daily serving of a sugary beverage with whole fruit to lower the risk for high blood pressure by 22 percent, the association said. Or, replace fruit juice with whole fruit to reduce risk by 19 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Milk and water also make good substitutes for sugar-sweetened beverages that can help to quench thirst. Substituting either was tied to a 13 percent lower risk.<\/p>\n<p>However, the same result was not seen for replacing fruit juice with milk or water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":["post-727020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}