Early Sweet Tooth: Juice Introduction During Early Infancy is Related to Toddler Juice Intake.

Objective: To assess if 100% fruit juice intake prior to 6 months is associated with juice and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake at 24 months and whether this differs by sociodemographic factors.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from infants enrolled in the control (no obesity intervention) arm of Greenlight, a cluster randomized trial to prevent childhood obesity which included parent-reported child 100% fruit juice intake at all well child checks between 2 and 24 months. We studied the relationship between the age of juice introduction (before vs after 6 months) and juice and SSB intake at 24 months using negative binomial regression while controlling for baseline sociodemographic factors.