Juice Linked to Stomach Ills in Kids

Fruit juice has a healthy reputation, especially in youngsters’ diets. But a Canadian physician worries that some children are becoming juice-aholics--and suffering digestive upset as a result.

Drinking glass after glass of juice increases carbohydrate intake and can lower consumption of fats, proteins and other necessary nutrients, resulting in an unbalanced diet that leads to “toddler diarrhea,” said Dr. Robert Issenman.

Issenman, director of the pediatric clinic at Canada’s McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, presented his views Friday at a Santa Barbara conference sponsored by the Dairy Council of California.

Many parents push juice-drinking because of its Vitamin C content, and some children become so “habituated” to juice that drinking a half-gallon a day is not unusual for them, Issenman said in an interview before the conference.

Can Provoke Cramps

In susceptible children, as little as 8 ounces of juice can provoke stomach cramps, said Issenman, who is also a pediatrics professor at McMaster University. His study linking excess fluid intake and digestive complaints was published last year in the American Journal of Diseases of Children.

His guideline: A normal 2- or 3-year-old, for example, should take in about a quart of fluid a day, including about 6 to 8 ounces of juice, 22 ounces of milk and the rest water.

Side Stitches

Side stitches can ruin a run, stall a walk or make aerobic dance workouts uncomfortable.

A stitch is “basically a muscle cramp due to lack of oxygen,” explained Kurt Hobbs, supervising exercise physiologist at Centinela National Athletic Health Institute, Culver City. “Your muscle isn’t caught up with your oxygen demand.”

How to get rid of a stitch?

“Slow down a bit and take nice deep breaths,” Hobbs said. “Stop if it’s really bad. By slowing down, the oxygen demand goes down and the stitch goes away.”

Warming up adequately before workouts and working up to high intensity can help prevent stitches, he said.