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Public health and safety

Researchers to kids: Drink more water

Kim Painter
Special to USA TODAY
About half of U.S. kids are under-hydrated, new research suggests.  In this file photo, Tianna Swisher, a student at Liberty Valley Elementary School in Danville, Pa., attempts to drink from a fountain at Montour Preserve near Washingtonville, Pa.

More than half of U.S. children and teens could use a drink – preferably of water – new research suggests.

The study, published Thursday by the American Journal of Public Health, found 54.5% of children ages 6 to 19 inadequately hydrated, at least by the standard set in the study.

The findings, based on one-time urine samples from more than 4,000 children, do not mean most children are seriously dehydrated.

"We are not saying kids are dropping like flies," says Erica Kenney, a researcher at Harvard University. "What we are saying is that they are not as hydrated as they should be for proper health and probably for proper school performance."

She and her colleagues write that even mild dehydration can be associated with "headache, irritability, poorer physical performance and reduced cognitive functioning."

For the study, they looked at how concentrated each child's urine was – that is, how much was water vs. other wastes. (You can judge the concentration of your own urine by looking at the color: light yellow is less concentrated, dark yellow is more concentrated and linked with dehydration).

The researchers considered a child inadequately hydrated if the concentration reached a level other studies have linked to sluggish thinking and mood changes.

They found boys and black children were more likely than girls and children of other races to have highly concentrated urine.

They also looked at what kids drank. They found water and sugary beverages were most common and that larger quantities of both were associated with less concentrated urine. But extra water was most strongly linked with staying in what the researchers considered a healthy hydration zone.

And water is definitely the healthier choice, Kenney says: "We would not at all recommend that kids drink more sugary drinks."

Some kids may not get enough water because they don't like the looks of the "old, outdated" water fountains their schools, she says. Efforts to get more appealing water dispensers in schools are showing some promise, she says.

Several public health campaigns, including one endorsed by first lady Michelle Obama, already are urging people to drink more water.

But the campaigns, also backed by bottled water companies, have encountered skepticism from some experts who say most people can judge their fluid needs by thirst alone – and that fluids can come from any drink and many foods.

One of those critics, Stanley Goldfarb, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said the new study did not use the best measure of dehydration, which requires 24-hour urine collection. And he says, "This idea that you are going to drink water and then think better, when you are not dehydrated to begin with, has not been proven."

When kids or adults are thirsty, he says, there's no doubt that water is a better choice than soda or other sugary drinks.

The study showed 22% of children drank no water, but the average child drank three 8 oz. servings a day, along with two sugar-sweetened drinks and a serving of milk. The children got 21% of their fluids from food.

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