Kids love to drink beverages. Take a look at the beverage aisles in the supermarkets and you will soon realise that they have many choices to pick from. While the primary reason to drink beverages is to include water in the diet, many of the choices available deliver quite a few calories and very few nutrients. Look at the ingredient list and study the nutrition information panel, and you will soon be able to distinguish the smarter beverage choices.
Here is a simple ready reckoner to help you make up your mind if these beverages should have a place in the diet of your kids.
Check out the Star Power rating for each of these top beverages consumed by your child. The Star Power rates the positive nutrient contribution of the beverages (per 200ml serving) against the US Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for children 4 - 8 years old.
You will be able to understand which beverage delivers more nutrients per calorie – make a smart beverage choice for your child today!
|
||||||||||||||
Cultured milk |
Malted Energy drink |
Gassy soft drinks |
Fresh Milk |
GROW 3 + |
GROW SCHOOL 6+ |
|||||||||
| Nutrient | %DRI per 200 ml serve |
%DRI per 200 ml serve |
%DRI per 200 ml serve |
%DRI per 200 ml serve |
%DRI per 200 ml serve |
%DRI per 200 ml serve |
||||||||
| Water |  |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
| Protein | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Carbohydrate, by difference | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Dietary fibre | Prebiotics (some) | |
|
Prebiotics | Prebiotics | |||||||||
| Minerals | ||||||||||||||
| Calcium | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Iron | |
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Magnesium | |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
| Phosphorus | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Potassium | |
|
||||||||||||
| Sodium | ||||||||||||||
| Zinc | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Copper | |
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Manganese | |
|
||||||||||||
| Selenium | |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
| Chromium | |
|
||||||||||||
| Iodine | |
|
||||||||||||
| Molybdenum | |
|
||||||||||||
| Vitamins | ||||||||||||||
| Vitamin C | |
|
|
|||||||||||
| Thiamin | |
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Riboflavin | |
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Niacin | |
|
|
|||||||||||
| Pantothenic acid | |
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Vitamin B6 | |
|
|
|
||||||||||
| Folate, total | ||||||||||||||
| Choline, total | |
|
|
|||||||||||
| Vitamin B-12 | |
|
||||||||||||
| Vitamin A, IU | |
|
|
|||||||||||
| Vitamin E | ||||||||||||||
| Vitamin D | |
|
|
|||||||||||
| Vitamin K | |
|
||||||||||||
| Biotin | ND | |
|
|||||||||||
| Probiotics | Yes | |||||||||||||
Data Sources: Abbott Nutrition, USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 20 (2007).
ND: No Data Available
Water: Aim for 6 – 8 glasses of water each day for your child. The fluid could come from water per se or a variety of fluid filled choices such as soup or juice.
Milk: Kids need to drink 2 – 3 glasses (each 250 ml) of milk each day as part of a well-balanced diet. Milk provides protein and calcium as well as a host of other important nutrients that are important for a growing child. Colour and flavour milk to add variety to this daily staple and to make it an appealing part of the diet.
Juices: Whenever possible, select juices with no added sugar. Also, keep fruit juices to no more than a glass a day and, encourage your child to eat fruit as it tends to have more fibre.
Sweetened drinks: These can be used as the occasional treat. Served in small portion, these beverages should not replace other more nutrient-dense fluids in your child’s diet.
To find out about more about new improved GROW® 3+, click here.
To find out about more about new improved GROW SCHOOL® 6+, click here.
If you’re trying new improved GROW® 3+ and/or GROW SCHOOL® 6+ for the first time, click here for a free sample.
For expert advice on paediatric nutrition, please contact Abbott Nutrition Careline at 6278-6220.