My youngest child is sweet obsessed! He has an unbelievably sweet tooth and pesters constantly for sweet tasting foods. Why would this be and what can I do?

Almost all children like sweet foods. No one really knows why but different theories abound. Some experts say that babies and young children are naturally programmed to like sweet foods because breast milk is sweet. Some say it's more to do with the fact that eating sweet foods can trigger the release of certain ‛happy' chemicals in the brain such as serotonin. Others argue that a liking for sweet foods is a learned habit and because there is so much refined sugar in the Western diet children of an increasingly young age are developing strong tastes for it.

Whatever the reason we know that too much sugar in the diet causes dental cares and may contribute towards nutritional deficiencies and obesity. Easy and effective ways of cutting down on the amount of sugar in your child's diet include offering water or very diluted natural fruit juices instead of cordials, soft drinks and non-diluted juices. Whenever possible make cakes and biscuits at home. These are likely to contain far less sugar that commercially prepared varieties. Buy reduced sugar versions of commercially prepared foods too - you can save a lot of sugar grams doing this but try to avoid replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners as these can also have negative consequences on children's health. Offer fruit two or three times a week as a dessert, swap sugary milkshakes for fruit smoothies and keep sweets and chocolate to a minimum (avoid banning them though as this is only likely to make them appear even more desirable).