Juicaholics

MacAvilley suggests trying to increase the amount of milk children drink by offering milk shakes or smoothies. ‘If you can get them to have one glass of milk instead of one glass of fruit juice, it will help with calcium levels,’ she says. Fruit juices should never replace milk in an infant’s diet, and should not be given to babies before they’re six months old.

And when they do drink juice or other soft drinks, dentists recommend that you establish certain ground rules. ‘Make them sit down and drink it in one go. If they leave any, take it away. Offer it occasionally but don’t make it their major drink,’ Yeo advises.

Here’s what American doctors are recommending

• Fruit juice should not be given to infants under 6 months of age.
• After 6 months, infants should not get squash or fruit juice from bottles or cups that allow them to drink throughout the day.
• Infants should not get fruit juice at bedtime.
• For children aged between 1 and 6, intake of fruit juice should be limited to 4, 5 or 6 ounces per day. In metric this is between 118ml and 177ml.
• For children aged between 7 and 18, juice intake should be between 8 and 12 ounces a day (236ml to 355ml – 200ml is about as much as you would get in a mug).
• All children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits.