Here are just a few facts about food to bear in mind when shopping

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• A 500ml bottle of a leading brand of diluted blackcurrant squash contains the same amount of sugar as in four tubes of chewy fruit sweets! (14 and a half teaspoons)
  
  
• A pot of fruit yoghurt can contain as much as six teaspoons of sugar! Instead blend or chop fresh fruit into live natural yoghurt for a fresh, sugar free alternative with much more flavour.
  
  
• Probiotic drinks and yoghurts may be branded as 'active health' drinks but many contain up to 80% more sugar weight for weight than coke! Instead choose live natural yoghurt, miso or tempeh for unsweetened sources of probiotic or friendly bacteria. 
  
  
• 'Brown bread' is just white bread dyed brown - unless it says 'wholemeal' on the label, it won't be made from wholegrain flour.
  
  
• Get your day off to a good start with a bowl of porridge - oats feed the nervous system and are 'happy food', as they contain a substance called tryptophan, which the brain converts into serotonin - the neurotransmitter that gives us the 'feel good factor'.
  
  
• Your brain is 60 percent fat, so make sure that it is made up of the right fats; the essential fatty acid omega 3 is critical for brain development and function in children.  Make sure they eat walnuts, flaxseeds, pumpkin and hemp seeds, as well as oily fish or eggs from chickens fed on flaxseeds (and consider a fish oil supplement).
  
  
• Fizzy drinks get their fizz from a substance called phosphoric acid. The body uses calcium to neutralize this acid so that it doesn't damage us. This calcium comes from our bones which may lead to weakening bones and increasing the risk of osteoporosis.  Instead choose organic fizzy drinks, which do not contain phosphoric acid or dilute real fruit juice with water.
  
  
• Being just 3% dehydrated can impact mental and physical performance by as much as 10%! Fresh fruit and vegetables all contribute to your water intake.