By Gabriella Boston Special to The Washington Post — The school
year is underway, and many parents see no better way to prepare
their children for a taxing day of learning than with a large
glass of sunshine, also known as orange juice. Not so fast, say
nutritionists and obesity experts. That glass of juice — even if
it's 100 percent fruit juice — is loaded with unnecessary
calories. "Most parents give their kids fruit juice because of
the perception that it's healthy," says Nazrat Mirza,
pediatrician and co-director of the Obesity Institute at
Children's National Medical Center. "I don't know where that
perception came from," she says. It's true that many juices —
particularly orange juice — are fortified with calcium and have
a healthful amount of Vitamin C. "But you are getting those
vitamins at a high calorie cost," Mirza says. In fact, if you
ate an orange at 60 calories and drank an eight-ounce glass of
water you'd be much better off than if you drank one eight-ounce
glass of orange juice at about 120 c