The actress, who starred in Frozen and Veronica Mars, has two daughters: eight-year-old Delta, and nine-year-old Lincoln.

Appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, she said: "My kids have ordered non-alcoholic beers at restaurants before."

Bell admitted it "sounds insane", but added "context is important".

She explained it all began when the children were younger and they would accompany Bell and her husband, fellow actor Dax Shepard, on walks.

"He is a recovering addict but he likes non-alcoholic beer," Bell said. "He'd pop one open, he'd have her on his chest and we'd walk and look at the sunset.

"So, as a baby, she was like pawing at it - and sometimes she would like suck on the rim of it. So I think it feels to her like something special, something daddy, something family."

She stressed there's no booze in the drinks, but described an occasion when one of her daughters tried to order a beer while they were eating out.

"I'm like 'maybe we just keep that for home'," Bell said.

And potentially anticipating criticism, she added: "You can judge me if you want, I'm not doing anything wrong."

Read more:
Oppenheimer sex scene sparks boycott threat
Dwayne Johnson makes 'historic' donation to charity helping striking actors

Non-alcoholic beers tend to have alcohol content of 0.5%, meaning a 500ml can would be the equivalent of 0.25 units.

That's roughly comparable to the alcohol by volume of a ripe banana or a glass of orange juice.

However charity Drink Aware says alcohol-free beers are not suitable for children.