Orange juice intake and anthropometric changes in children and adolescents

Objective: Evaluate associations between orange juice (OJ) consumption and anthropometric parameters. Design: Prospective cohort study assessing the association between OJ intake and changes in BMI and height-for-age Z-score (HAZ) using mixed linear regression. Setting: 2004-2008, USA. Participants: Children from the Growing Up Today Study II (n 7301), aged 9-16 years at enrollment. Results: OJ consumption was positively associated with 2-year change in HAZ in girls (mean (se)): 0 center dot 03 (0 center dot 01) for non-consumers, 0 center dot 03 (0 center dot 02) for 1-3 glasses/month, 0 center dot 06 (0 center dot 01) for 1-6 glasses/week and 0 center dot 09 (0 center dot 02) for >= 1 glass/d after full adjustment (P (trend) = 0 center dot 02). However, OJ consumption was not associated with 2-year change in BMI percentile (kg/m(2), mean (se)): -0 center dot 44 (0 center dot 36) for non-consumers, 0 center dot 20 (0 center dot 41) for 1-3 glasses/month, -0 center dot 04 (0 center dot 34) for 1-6 glasses/week and -0 center dot 77 (0 center dot 62) for >= 1 glass/d in girls, P (trend) = 0 center dot 81; -0 center dot 94 (0 center dot 53) for non-consumers, -1 center dot 68 (0 center dot 52) for 1-3 glasses/month, -0 center dot 81 (0 center dot 38) for 1-6 glasses per week and -1 center dot 12 (0 center dot 61) for >= 1 glass/d in boys, P (trend) = 0 center dot 49. Conclusion: OJ consumption was favourably associated with height growth but unrelated to excess weight gain. OJ may be a useful alternative to whole fruit in the event that whole fruit intake is insufficient.