Juice May Keep Sick Kids Hydrated

Better Than Pricey

Drinks

For young children

with a mild

"stomach bug,"

drinking diluted

apple juice may

be just as good

as more

expensive drinks

that tout having

electrolytes for

preventing dehydration, a new study

suggests.

The study involved nearly 650 children in

Toronto, ages 6 months to 5 years, who went

to the emergency room with diarrhea and

vomiting, but were only mildly dehydrated.

The children were randomly assigned to

receive either diluted apple juice or an apple-

flavored drink with electrolytes while they

were in the ER.

When the children were sent home, those in

the diluted apple juice group continued to

receive diluted apple juice along with other

beverages, such as sports drinks, to replace

lost fluids. Those in the electrolyte group

received only the electrolyte drink to replace

lost fluids.

After a week, 9 percent of the children in the

electrolyte drink group needed to go back to

the doctor to receive fluids through an IV due

to dehydration, compared with just 2.5

percent of the children in the diluted apple

juice group. The frequency of vomiting and

diarrhea episodes were about the same in

both groups.

"In many high-income countries, the use of

dilute apple juice and preferred fluids as

desired may be an appropriate alternative to

electrolyte maintenance fluids in children with

mild gastroenteritis and minimal

dehydration," the researchers, from the

University of Calgary in Canada, wrote in a

paper published online today (April 30) in the

journal JAMA. [10 Ways to Promote Kids'

Healthy Eating Habits ]

The new findings challenge the

recommendation from the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention to routinely give

children an electrolyte solution if they have

diarrhea. But this recommendation was

based on a smaller study conducted nearly

two decades ago.

The benefit of dilute apple juice in the new

study was greatest for children ages 2 and

over, who are more accustomed to drinking

apple juice and other sweetened drinks, the

researchers said. Although the electrolyte

solution in the new study was sweetened,

children may still not find the drink that tasty

— a previous study of a sweetened electrolyte

solution found that 30 percent of children

said they wouldn't want to drink the solution

again.

It's been thought that drinks with a lot of

sugar increase diarrhea, but recent studies

(including the current one) suggest that, for

children with minimal dehydration,

consumption of any fluids is more important

than the sugar content of the fluid, the

researchers said.

The researchers noted that the new findings

may not apply to lower-income countries,

where children have a higher risk of

complications from gastroenteritis.