Child health:how to take your tot's drink from dull to delicious

How to: take your youngster's drink from dull, to delicious...

If the tame taste of filtered fluid fails to tickle your tot's taste buds, sprucing up their spring water with a selection of irresistible ice-cubes will not only satisfy their senses by creating a sweet but sensible source to sip - a source that's free from the added sugar that you need to ditch from their daily diet - but reduce their risk of developing the detrimental diseases that stem from sugary soft drinks - regularly sipping on sugar fuelled fluid increases the incidence of dental decay as well as obesity, and obesity related diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

To take your youngster's distilled drink from dull to delicious, simply slice and dice a selection of solid fruit sources into smaller segments (think strawberries, raspberries, kiwi and watermelon!), before transferring them into an ice-cube tray and topping with freshly squeezed (not concentrated) orange juice or spring water. The cubes can then be used to create a filtered but fruity fluid once fully frozen.

Top tip: not all sugars are the same.

Although we all need to avoid the added sugar found in fluids such as soft and fizzy drinks - the type that sabotages silhouettes and subjects blood sugar to speedy spikes and slumps - we don't need to slash the intrinsic type found in food sources such as fruit - the type that takes longer to enter the bloodstream (the body has to battle to break down the plant cell wall that surrounds the sugar) and is accompanied by necessary nutrients such as satiety stimulating fibre, vital vitamins and mandatory minerals.

If you're struggling to satisfy your youngster's sweet tooth (and/or decrease the incidence of dehydration) without widening their waistline, opt for feeding them solid fruit sources, milk (a variety that's appropriate for their age) and/or a healthier, homemade fruit flavoured fluid (opt for the one detailed above as an alternative to fruit juice which still contains added/free sugars due to the juicing or blending process!) as opposed to sugary snacks, squashes, smoothies and soft and fizzy drinks. 

www.twitter.com/N_NutritionUK
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NippersNutrition/