Raising a child means teaching them important life lessons, and at Thirsty Work we believe that includes developing healthy dietary habits. Although you may see your children drink enough water whilst they are at home, we see a lot of cases where children just aren’t drinking enough water during the school day. Children become dehydrated very easily, and this places unnecessary strain on the body, as it struggles to maintain itself without such a crucial substance that is water.

Why Children are more vulnerable to dehydration than adults?

When a baby is first born its body consists of 75% water. This percentage gradually declines with age, and by the time that they reach adulthood the body has anywhere between 55-60% water. In addition to this a child’s ratio of skin exposed to water loss compared to the volume of the body is higher than adults. Therefore, children must consume a higher volume of water just to maintain a stable and consistent level of hydration. Just to add another element to this topic, the thirst signal only kicks in when a child is already suffering from mild to moderate dehydration.

Dehydration symptoms to look out for & what are the consequences?

Children should generally be drinking around 2 litres of water a day, but when they don’t drink this amount dehydration will begin to set in. This causes everything to slow down. Neither the mind nor the body can function as well as they should.

Typically, dehydration causes a child to:

• Struggle to concentrate in class and after school clubs
• Have difficulty thinking clearly
• Suffer from headaches
• Lack energy
• Be inclined to crankiness, temper tantrums, or weepiness

How parents can help their children hydrate?

• Make water your favourite drink! Children learn and look to mirror their parents and their immediate surroundings. So, a great way to get your children to drink more water, is to set the example and pass on the hydration message by drinking water throughout the day.
• Provide your children with a reusable water bottle. Children will tend to drink more water if it is made easily accessible to them. Use the opportunity to buy them a water bottle that is their favourite colour or has a favourite cartoon on it. This way your child will love it and carry it around with them, resulting in them drinking more water.
• Explain why drinking water is so important. Get your child working with you. Explain that waiting until your thirsty to drink water is a problem and means you are already dehydrated. The more they understand the important the more likely they are to drink water.

What Schools Can do to Help?

Children tend to have more sensitive taste buds and as a result can pick up the taste of water treatment chemicals in tap water. This results in them drinking less water and becoming dehydrated. Therefore, Thirsty Work is working with schools to supply them with water fountains and mains fed and bottled water coolers in order to give children access to filtered, chilled spring water, that has a fantastic taste. This way children will drink more water and remain healthy, hydrated and happy.