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WATER – THE ELIXIR OF HEALTH & OPPORTUNITY FOR
YOUR CHILD
Surprisingly, the one thing that can increase your child's
health substantially is drinking more water.
Note that we
are talking about water from the tap or bottle here. There is
a whole other story about carbonated drinks and the
caffeine, chemicals, flavourings and preservatives they
contain (hyperactivity comes to mind)! This article is about
pure unaltered water and making sure your children are getting
enough of it!
Children are usually
unable to recognise the subtle signs of dehydration. They know
when they are hungry but overlook the symptoms of thirst. Do your
children suffer from frequent infections, poor concentration or
headaches? These are signs that they are not consuming
enough water.
We are all
likely to be aware of the healthy eating campaigns going on in our
local areas, emphasising the importance of nutritional, healthy and
balanced diets for our children but where are the campaigns to encourage
children (and adults for that matter) to drink more water? Nutritionists
argue that water is just as essential to being healthy and
making our bodies perform to the best of their abilities, as part of
a healthy diet.
In the
UK there are no official recommendations for how much water should
be drunk daily but here are some guidelines for daily amounts that
children should drink from the United States:
1 - 3
year olds should have 0.9 litres
4 - 8 year
olds should have 1.2 litres
9 - 13
year old girls should have 1.6 litres
9 - 13
year old boys should have 1.8 litres
14 -18
year old girls should have 1.8 litres
14 -18
year old boys should have 2.6 litres
Research completed on
this subject by the Expert Group has shown that more then 40% of
children in these age ranges do not drink enough water.
How much
difference does drinking enough water make to your children?
Well
tests have been carried out at on classes at school with one class
only being allowed to drink at break times and the other class
having bottled water on hand throughout the whole school day.
Guess
which class fared better?
The class who had bottled water all day were better behaved, had
greater concentration levels, were less tired and even their quality
of work was better.
In the
UK, schools are only legally required to provide 'a wholesome supply
of water for domestic purposes including a supply of drinking
water'.
Yet if
water was made freely available to all children throughout the
school day, not just at break times, and actively encouraged by
teachers (the same would apply to parents in the mornings and
evenings) children would form a really healthy lifetime habit of
staying hydrated.
Making
sure children have enough water to drink everyday can greatly
improve both their health and learning ability. Being even slightly
dehydrated can affect a child's mental ability as they become tired,
dizzy, irritable, lightheaded and unable to concentrate for long
periods of time.
So why not make sure your children get the full benefits
of both their education and being healthy by getting them into the
habit of drinking enough water everyday.
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