Apple is favorite fruit for kids, study says

The study also revealed that the apples represent 20% of fruit intake among children between 2 and 19 years old, followed by citrus and apple juices.

In terms of percentage, 90% of total fruit consumption comes from whole fruit and 100% comes from fruit juices, which are not healthy, scientists say, as they are a mix of water and sugar and contribute to gaining weight. Now, researchers are learning more about the fruits that children are most willing to eat.

“Fruits are an important source of nutrients that promote health and protect against chronic disease”, researchers said in a press release.

The survey conducted by CDC on more than 3,000 children between age of two and 19 have found that apples account for 29% of all fruit consumed by children. “These findings provide insight into what fruits U.S. youth are consuming and sociodemographic factors that may influence consumption”. On average, kids got slightly more than half of their daily fruit intake from whole fruits, while 34 percent came from fruit juice.

After apples (18.9 percent), the second-most-consumed whole fruit is bananas (6.8 percent). That is a positive development, the American Academy of Pediatrics states, because whole fruit has “the greatest health benefits”.

“It’s simultaneously horrifying and not at all shocking that a full third of all “fruit” being consumed by children is in juice form”, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, told Forbes.