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)): 0·03 (0·01) for non-consumers, 0·03 (0·02) for 1-3 glasses/month, 0·06 (0·01) for 1-6 glasses/week and 0·09 (0·02) for ≥1 glass/d after full adjustment (Ptrend = 0·02). However, OJ consumption was not associated with 2-year change in BMI percentile (kg/m2, mean (se)): -0·44 (0·36) for non-consumers, 0·20 (0·41) for 1-3 glasses/month, -0·04 (0·34) for 1-6 glasses/week and -0·77 (0·62) for ≥1 glass/d in girls, Ptrend = 0·81; -0·94 (0·53) for non-consumers, -1·68 (0·52) for 1-3 glasses/month, -0·81 (0·38) for 1-6 glasses per week and -1·12 (0·61) for ≥1 glass/d in boys, Ptrend = 0·49.
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.
Keywords: BMI percentile; Children; Growing up today study; Height-for-age Z-score; Orange juice.