Dietary guidance and nutrition policies have moved toward recommending whole fruit over juice and low- or non-fat milk over whole milk and flavored milk. However, little is known about the potential for these changes to reduce total energy intake in the diets of children. This project explored and quantified the nutritional impact, in terms of both nutrient intake and energy intake, of substituting whole fruit for fruit juice and low-fat and non-fat milk for whole milk by children. Additionally, a monetary analysis provided estimates on the likely added cost or cost savings that would be associated with such dietary changes. The analyses were based on children with a valid 24-hour recall for all children ages 3-18 in the 2001-2002 and 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) releases. Dietary intakes of energy and nutrients were derived for individual children based on data from the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS). The costs of children’s diets were derived from the food prices from a database released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Diet composition and cost were then characterized for several survey-weighted race and socioeconomic strata (family income to poverty ratio).