April Frawley Birdwell
05/16/2007

 

Juice boxes look harmless enough, with those kid-size, bendable straws and promises of 100 percent vitamin C.

As healthy as juice seems, parents need to be wary of doling out too much to children, especially during the summer when kids need plenty of fluids to stay safe, a University of Florida expert says. Unlike water and low-fat milk, fruit juices and sodas are laden with fructose, a type of naturally occurring sugar that could trigger obesity in humans, said Richard Johnson, MD., the J. Robert Cade professor of nephrology in the UF College of Medicine.