Youngsters topping up with fizzy pop

Children 'drink just 25% of the water they need': Youngsters topping up with fizzy pop as officials call for 'fundamental shift' in how parents feed their families 

Schoolchildren are drinking a quarter of the water they need and turning to fizzy drinks instead, public health experts have warned.

Official statistics show that children and teenagers aged between 11 and 18 are drinking only two small glasses of water a day – about 453ml – out of their total fluid requirement of 1.8litres.

And younger children, aged four to ten, are drinking just 276ml out of the recommended 1.3litres, according to figures from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.