I overheard someone say that she only gives her children Ribena (a blackcurrant drink) and not water as there is no nutrition in water but that Ribena is high in vitamin C. I nearly fell off my chair and decided to write an article to remind everyone about GOOD DRINKING

WATER AND MILK

Children need to drink a lot of fluids through the day to keep their hydration levels up. Children with inadequate fluid intake can be irritable and have difficulty in maintaining mental concentration. Water and milk are the best forms of fluids for children. Milk contains proteins, lactose and minerals (including calcium) that are beneficial for growing children. Milk also contains a high amount of water (approximately 90%) so it is actually good for hydration. While milk contains fat, unless there is a good health reason, children should not drink low-fat or non-fat milk. Children of 4 to 5 years quite often drink 1 litre of milk per day. Getting children into a good habit of drinking water early is a wise thing. Apart from merely quenching thirst, WATER is the perfect source of hydration and a great way to detoxify their little bodies.

JUICE AND CORDIALS

Packaged fruit juices are simply that, PACKAGED. If you look at the fine print, you will see that there is a low percentage of juice in all that packaging (I note that there is only 5% in this one that I am holding). The other ingredients are somewhat dubious - you will see food colouring of some description, some artificial food flavouring, and sugar. Cordials are even worse. They are just tasty coloured, sugared-drinks with zero nutritional value. My son will run around like a maniac after a glass of cordial - and he would actually get quite violent towards his sister. I noticed this quite recently and have banned cordials from our house. He reacts to sugar and it is obvious to me that cordials must have caused that manic reaction in him.

ALTERNATIVES

Substitute packaged juices with real fruit. Real fruit provides the kids with fibre, vitamins and they fill the stomach at snack times. For thirst, drink water with the fruit. If your kids ask for lemonade, why not make them the real thing? Or blend real fruit with yogurt for a yummy smoothie. Try this recipe: bananas, crushed ice and honey. It's really delicious!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST... SAVE THEIR TEETH

All drinks... be it milk, juices (fresh or packaged) or smoothies will stick on children's teeth. If not brushed daily and vigilantly, tooth decay will happen. Sugary drinks are especially bad for their teeth.

Sure, you cannot avoid all drinks but at least, give the kids the good drinks and save the sugary drinks for parties and other such occasions - which are probably often enough for you not to have to subsidise their sugar intake daily basis. Hopefully, they will take their good drinking habits with them right into adulthood.