There is a huge difference between eating apples and drinking apple juice. In the juice, the calories are much more dense, you might as well be drinking a can of Coke. With an apple itself, the sugars are less concentrated.
Yep. As a diabetic, I stay away from fruit juices as they would contribute to an immediate rise in my blood sugar. I can, however, have a small apple, berries, and tho I tend to avoid them, half a banana at a time.
It's the fiber in the fruit that lessens the effect on blood sugars and makes them better for you (and certainly for diabetics) than juice. If I had a small child I would severely restrict the amount of fruit juice - it's like giving a kid a box of sugar water. I don't know what parents are thinking to load their kids down w/so much juice.