Children's National Medical Center, US (26 Nov) - A lot of parents were shocked when fruit juices were blamed for obesity among children.

Unfortunately, printed media which were responsible for reporting the findings had misled the public by not stating that such effects were found only on commercial juices and not freshly prepared juice.

Two new studies, published in the journal Pediatrics, had confirmed that there is no connection between children's' weight and consuming reasonable amounts of pure fruit juice.

One of the studies, from Baylor College of Medicine, concluded that after several years of studies from a national sample of preschoolers; consumption of 100-percent juices has no weight effect.

The other study, also published in Pediatrics, found there was no connection between juice consumption and body weight among normal weight children.

Advising parents to omit sugar from their juices, the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines have also recommended a daily juice level consumption for children.

It is recommended that you serve 1/2 cup juice for children 1 to 5 years old and 1 and 1/2 cups juice for older children.