September 23, 2015
The Importance of Hydration
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As a dietitian, I spend a lot of time talking about food. A very important topic that is less talked about is the importance of hydration. Hydration is very important in helping you feel your best. Even slight dehydration can affect your mood, making you feel more irritable. It can make you overeat since you may confuse thirst with hunger. Also, you may feel more tired and low on energy due to dehydration.
It is necessary for kids and adults to drink enough fluids, especially water, to feel their best. A general guideline for drinking water is to have 8 glasses per day. This varies depending on age, how much you exercise, the weather, etc.
Along with water, fruits, vegetables, soup, and popsicles also provide fluids for kids. Especially on a hot day, provide your kids with these types of foods to make sure that they are getting enough to drink. I make my daughter popsicles with fresh fruit, water, protein, milk, vegetables, etc. This provides her with a fun treat plus hydration.
After kids play outside, give them a bowl of chopped fruit which provides vitamins, energy, concentration, and minerals, fiber, and water.
I recently read some tips about hydration from Robin Plotkin and a survey conducted by Nestlé® Pure Life® that I found to be very interesting:
-Every time you go for a drink of water, ask your kids if they would like some water too.
I like this tip because it can be difficult to remember to give my daughter water. If I offer her some when I drink water that is a great way to remember.
-Urine should be the color of straw or lemonade. If it is dark yellow, you need to drink more water.
-Talk to your kids about why hydration is important such as that it helps them stay cool when they are hot. Let them know that dehydration can impact mood, energy, concentration and short term memory.
-Drink water when you wake up. I chug a bunch of water first thing in the morning and I notice that I feel better when I do this.
-In a survey conducted by, Nestlé® Pure Life® , moms said that water is what their child most regularly drinks in the car (according to 88% of moms).
This is great! I am not a fan of giving children juice regularly so am glad that children are drinking water.
-Kids who drink 4+ glasses of water per day are more likely to show healthy habits such as getting their own water, eating fruits and vegetables and eating healthy foods at school! -© 2015 Nestlé® Waters North America Inc
I believe that healthy habits come from example. If my daughter sees me chowing on some roasted broccoli for dinner, she is more likely to want to eat the broccoli herself then if I just gave her some and ate pizza myself. The same goes for water! Adalyn already learned how to drink out of my water bottle because she sees me do it all day long.
Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water is great for drinking on-the-go to keep your hydration up. I purchased mine at Walmart. I bought a bunch so that I can serve this at Adalyn's first birthday party in a few weeks. I am not much for pop or juice so at my parties, I make sure to have a couple of beverages plus a bunch of water.
As a proud supporter of the Partnership for a Healthier America's Drink Up initiative, Nestlé® Pure Life® is committed to helping families make healthier choices, starting with hydration.
Healthy habits start during childhood and they are encouraging moms and kids to reach for water first before other beverages. To ignite The Ripple Effect movement and encourage kids to get the water they need throughout their day, Nestlé® Pure Life® has committed to provide nearly one million 8 ounce servings of water to kids this school year through After-School All-Stars , an organization that strives to keep children safe and healthy through afterschool programming at over 20 participating schools in select markets across the country.
To help your family Drink Up and be a part of the Ripple Effect – a movement to keep kids hydrated – visit pureliferippleeffect.com and share your tips for healthy hydration using #pureliferippleeffect. Check out Nestlé® Pure Life® on Facebook.
*We conducted our online survey in June 2015 of 1,077 moms of kids ages 6-12 overall, including 254 Hispanic moms of kids ages 6-12. 1,077 kids ages 6-12 from the same household were also surveyed, including 254 Hispanic kids ages 6-12. – © 2015 Nestlé® Waters North America Inc. –
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Keeping kids hydrated really is SO important, these are great tips and I love that Nestlé® is helping kids out and raising awareness! ~ client
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder and the great article! My son is only a year old, so I sometimes struggle with how much water to give him. I just end up giving him as much as he wants, but I do forget to offer it sometimes. Your point about kids watching what you eat hit home. I need to remember that when I get a craving for fast food or something unhealthy, and want to eat something different than the healthy food I'm feeding my son! Thanks again for the great article.
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