Fruit juice consumption is associated with improved nutrient adequacy in children and adolescents: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006

Objective: To examine the contribution of 100% fruit juice (FJ) consumption to dietary adequacy of shortfall nutrients by children and adolescents. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Secondary analysis of data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Subjects: Children and adolescents aged 2-18 years (n 7250). Usual intake, determined from two 24 h dietary recalls, was calculated using the National Cancer Institute method. The population was dichotomized into consumers or non-consumers of 100% FJ. The age/gender-specific percentage of the two consumption groups with intakes less than the Estimated Average Requirement or that exceeded the Adequate Intake for selected nutrients was determined. A Z-statistic for differences in population proportions was used to determine significance (P < 0.05). Results: Children aged 2-5 years had the highest percentage of 100% FJ consumers (71.1 %), followed by children aged 6-12 years (57.0%) and adolescents aged 13-18 years (44.5 %). Compared with 100% FJ consumers, a significantly higher percentage of non-consumers had intakes below the Estimated Average Requirement for vitamin A (24.4 (SE 2.5) % v. 42.2 (SE 2.5) %), vitamin C (0.1 (SE 0.2) % v. 38.9 (SE 4.1) %), folate (8.8 (SE 1.5) % v. 22.1 (SE 2.4) %), P (11.6 (SE 2.1) % v. 21.3 (SE 2.6) %) and Mg (25.8 (SE 1.7) % v. 46.1 (SE 2.0) %). A greater percentage of 100% FJ consumers exceeded the Adequate Intake for K (2.4 (SE 0.5) v. 0.5 (SE 0.2) %) compared with non-consumers. Conclusions: Consumption of 100% FJ is associated with improved nutrient adequacy and can contribute to a healthy diet.