The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said the idea that fizzy drinks or fruit juices can help with gastroenteritis is a myth and warned that in children under the age of five they could make problems worse.
The guidance recommends that children should be given water or oral rehydration salt solutions such as Dioralyte if they are at risk of dehydration and continue with their breastfeeding or milk feeds.
Gastroentritis is highly infectious, with 150,000 to 300,000 children under five in England taken to their GP or hospital each year with symptoms.
The guidelines, published last week by NICE and the National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health, cover children from birth up to their fifth birthday, presenting with acute diarrhoea (lasting 14 days), with or without vomiting due to gastroenteritis.
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