Water, an essential nutrient for hydrating your children
Water is the main constituent of the human body. It represents 60% of an adult’s body weight, and even more for a new-born baby (75%). Water has numerous essential roles in the human body. It acts as a building material; as a carrier for nutrients and waste products; in thermoregulation and as a lubricant and shock absorber.
To function properly, your children’s body has to recover the water lost during the day (through urine, sweat, breathing, and faeces) by consuming food and beverages. Therefore, to maintain the water balance, it is important to remind them that they should drink water regularly throughout the day . Daily water requirements vary according to age, gender, weather, physical activity… (1)
In Europe (2), EFSA recommends for healthy sedentary children living in temperate climate to drink:
- - 0.9 l/ day for children aged 2 to 3
- - 1.1 l/day for children aged 4 to 8
- - 1.3 l/day for girls aged 9 to 13
- - 1.5 l/day for boys aged 9 to 13
In USA (3), these values are slightly different and are the following:
- - 0.9 l/day for children aged 1 to 3
- - 1.2 l/day for children aged 4 to 8
- - 1.6 l/day for girls aged 9 to 13
- - 1.8 l/day for boys aged 9 to 13
Practical suggestions to enable children to drink enough water
- - The morning, before going to school, consistently offer a glass of water to your child
- - If possible, slip a small bottle of water into his or her school bag so that he or she can drink during breaks
- - At lunch
- - Before, during and after any physical activity, and even when they are just playing
- - When he or she returns from school, offer him or her one glass of water while he or she has a snack
- - At night during dinner, offer your child water again. Don’t forget to make your child pee before going to bed.
- - Put bottles of water in accessible places like on the desk, on the dining table or in the bedroom !
It is essential that your children adopt healthy hydration habits early on by drinking water regularly during the day.
How can you make sure that your child drinks enough water?
When the body is well hydrated, the child does not complain about being thirsty and his or her urine is clear.
Don’t wait until your child feels thirsty to give him or her water to drink. In fact, the sensation of thirst arises when the body has already lost more water than he has got. Thus, you can explain to your child that by the time he or she feels thirsty, a lack of hydration is already there.
Another tip is to look at the urine color. If it is dark-coloured, rather than pale yellow, that might mean that your child are not drinking enough.
References :
- 1. Jéquier E, Constant F. Water as an essential nutrient: the physiological basis of hydration. Eur J Clin Nutr 2010; 64: 115—23.
- 2. Scientific Opinion on Dietary Reference Values for Water. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition, and Allergies (NDA). EFSA Journal 2010, 8 (3) ; 1459
- 3. Dietary Reference Intakes (2006). The Essential Guide to Nutrients Requirements. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies: Washington DC, 543 pp.