Apples, bananas on top of the list but American kids love fruit juices too: study

A study on US children and teens found that apples are the preferred choice of fruit regardless of racial or ethnic background.

The study published in the journal Pediatrics revealed that US kids prefer apples out of all fruits available in the country. About 60 percent of apple consumption is from eating it as a whole fruit and the remaining percent comes from drinking 100 percent apple fruit juice.

For the study, researchers analyzed the data from more than 3,000 kids from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2011 and 2012. Investigators found that apples top the list of the most eaten fruit by children and teens at 19 percent, followed by fruit juice, bananas and melon.

According to LA Times, apples transcend racial and ethnic groups as it is the primary fruit choice for children. Hispanic children get 21 percent of their daily fruit from apples, 19 percent in Asian American children, 18 percent in White children and 17 percent in African American kids.

"My ultimate goal was to understand what kids are eating," said Kirsten Herrick, lead author from the National Center for Health Statistics, via Fox News. "Only about 40 percent of US youth meet the target for consumption on any given day."

The outlet added that the fruit consumption of US kids have increased by more than 65 percent in 2003 to 2010, however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that most children still do not get the recommended amount of fruit or vegetables daily. Kids reportedly only eat 1.25 cups of fruit daily of which 90 percent coming from 100 percent fruit juices. The CDC recommends at least one cup of fruit and vegetables per day.

"The good news is children are eating some fruit," said Laura Gearman, pediatric registered dietitian who is not involved in the study, said via Forbes. "We need to work on shifting intakes to be 100% from whole fruits, rather than some from fruit juices. Given the popularity of a few fruits among children—apples, banana, melon—it seems we could also work on having a wider variety of fruits more easily accessible to children."

She added that regularly drinking fruit juice is not recommended as it may "contribute to excessive calorie intake in children" which will lead to weight gain and obesity.

"Liquid calories from juices have been shown to decrease satiety cues which may contribute to excessive calorie intake in children," said Gearman. "Excessive intakes over an extended period of time will lead to weight gain and contribute to obesity in children."