My child won drink plain water. Is juice or flavored water fine?
Water is definately the healthiest beverage for growing kids… and for adults, for that matter. So, helping your kids learn to drink water is very important. However, many kids refuse water because they prefer something sweet and flavored. The problem with many flavored drinks is that they fill kids up. In other words, if they are drinking juice, lemonaide, flavored drinks or soda, they will not eat as much of the fruits, vegetables, whole grains, milk or other foods that their body needs for maximum health. And flavored zero-calorie drinks contain artificial (or sometimes “natural” sweeteners like stevia) that have not been scientifically proven to be absolutely safe for kids… especially when consumed in large quantities. Plus, drinking these beverages gets kids into the habit of craving sweet drinks. If your child doesn’t like water, don’t expect them to start drinking water today or even next week. Think about making the shift over the next few months, using these stratagies: 1.
