--- description: It puts babies' overall nutrition at risk title: Penelope Leach: Juice Is the Root of Our Obesity Problem image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b6989257b858c6c/69886441f887dc816ee926cc/qe-color-overlay-template-penelope-leach.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 18, 2015 # Juice Is the Root of Our Obesity Problem by Penelope Leach  NEW YORK, NY - JULY 10: Actor Haley Joel Osment discusses his new series "The Spoils Before Dying" at AOL Studios In New York on July 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Adela Loconte/WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - JULY 10: Actor Haley Joel Osment discusses his new series "The Spoils Before Dying" at AOL Studios In New York on July 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Adela Loconte/WireImage)Corbis; Photo illustration by Alex Thebez for TIME Many families are trying to reduce their soda intake but manufacturers are fighting back with “no added sugar” formulations and “fruit” drinks. So far, they’re winning. A drink of diluted fruit juice is the routine afternoon snack of many babies. It’s often the good stuff: pure juice. No nasty preservatives, more vitamin C than necessary and no added sugar. But you don’t have to add sugar to make fruit juice sweet—that’s why babies prefer it to water. And because they prefer it, it becomes habitual. An afternoon drink becomes an all-the-time drink that grows with the baby. As they get older, they drink less expensive “fruit” drinks and sodas, which become empty calories and unwanted pounds. With babies’ tummies full of sweet stuff they’ll want less milk or solid food, so overall nutrition is at risk. If babies who want a nonmilk drink are routinely given plain water, that’s what they will expect. It’s probably the most important single thing you can do to prevent cavities and obesity. _Leach is the author of_ Your Baby and Child ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/question-everything/4029871/penelope-leach-what-common-practice-will-horrify-our-kids-someday/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/question-everything/4029871/penelope-leach-what-common-practice-will-horrify-our-kids-someday/"},"headline":"Penelope Leach: Juice Is the Root of Our Obesity Problem","datePublished":"2015-09-18T17:23:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:09:14.643Z","description":"It puts babies' overall nutrition at risk","url":"https://time.com/collections/question-everything/4029871/penelope-leach-what-common-practice-will-horrify-our-kids-someday/","keywords":["Question Everything"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b6989257b858c6c/69886441f887dc816ee926cc/qe-color-overlay-template-penelope-leach.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b6989257b858c6c/69886441f887dc816ee926cc/qe-color-overlay-template-penelope-leach.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/question-everything/4029871/penelope-leach-what-common-practice-will-horrify-our-kids-someday/","name":"Penelope Leach: Juice Is the Root of Our Obesity Problem"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Question Everything: What Common Practice Will Horrify Our Kids?","description":"TIME hit the streets to ask New Yorkers several offbeat questions designed to provoke and prod the brain.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7WrV5AhX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-18T14:46:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7WrV5AhX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/question-everything/4029871/penelope-leach-what-common-practice-will-horrify-our-kids-someday/","duration":"PT1M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/question-everything/4029871/penelope-leach-what-common-practice-will-horrify-our-kids-someday/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```