Children who drink water do better at school

Give you child a bottle of water to boost their exam results, says study

Posted: 10 May 2011
by Kim Hookem

Drinking water could improve your child's test results

Forget cramming for the SATS (OK, obviously study is still pretty essential too), get your children to drink more! That’s the new advice coming from the Natural Hydration Council, an organization that promotes natural bottled water. Its new study at a school in Bolton has revealed that a well-hydrated child is an exam-passing child.

The study, involving 166 children aged 11-12 found that drinking more water during school made children more alert and interested. The children were checked before taking part in the study to measure their attitudes towards learning and how bored, interested and calm they felt during the day. Their urine colour and cognitive skills were also recorded.

Over the next two weeks, the children were given three 500ml bottles of water each day and their moods, brain function and urine colour were recorded again.

Results showed that increasing their water intake doubled the children’s interest in learning, significantly increased their brain function and made them feel an average of 30% more interested during class.

To boost your children’s brain power, study leader Dr Emma Derbyshire recommends:

Give your children 6-8 drinks each day. Water is ideal but milk, weak squash or watered down fruit juice are good options too
Swap that sugary drink in their lunchbox for a bottle of water
Encourage children to sip water throughout the day so they stay constantly hydrated rather than compensating after they are already dehydrated

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So what do you think?

Jo Jacobius
I am astonished that, whilst water is recommended as ‘ideal’ the Natural Hydration Council’s advisor, Dr Emma Derbyshire, recommends “weak squash or watered down fruit juice” as equally good options, placing these in the same category as milk. This is surely poor advice.
Only two drinks are strongly recommended for children by most health professionals: milk and water.
The evidence is that soft drink consumption – that is sweetened flavoured drinks, smoothies and fruit juices – are having a disproportional impact on obesity, according to scientists Dr Sue Reeves and Dr Tara Coppinger of the University of Roehampton. These drinks should be used as an occasional treat and not be considered interchangeable with milk and water as fruit juices and squashes may not only contribute unwanted calories but are not good for teeth either.

The University of Roehampton scientists, who presented a paper at the British Nutrition Foundation’s conference on hydration, found that boys consumed as much as 10 per cent of their daily energy intake from drinks (with girls little better at 9 per cent). “The majority of children had sugar intakes greater than recommended,” they said. With obesity levels estimated to cost the NHS around £1 billion a year, the financial as well as the social cost is going to be as enormous as the nation’s waist-lines if the next generation misses out on sound advice. www.nhs.uk/change4life

As every school knows, sound advice starts at school, particularly amongst older children for whom peer pressure and information from teachers may have more impact than parental guidance. Research shows that drinking to stay hydrated has to be learnt; contrary to expectation so it is important that schools understand the value of water. Jamie Oliver’s campaigns in the UK and the USA have highlighted the dangers of treating sweet foods and drinks as the norm in the home, the lunch-box or the school canteen. The Natural Hydration Council should be more thoughtful before it pours out bad science. For sound advice see http://www.britishbottledwater.org/children.html

Jo Jacobius, director of British Bottled Water Producers www.britishbottledwater.org
About 2 years ago

Kinvara Carey
Just to clarify, as I think this has been mis-interpreted, Dr Emma Derbyshire is not saying that weak squash and watered down fruit juice are equally as good as water, she is simply saying that water is the first choice of beverage for children.
In fact Dr Emma Derbyshire makes her position on the benefits of water very clear by suggesting that you swap sugary drinks for a bottle of water in a lunch box and encourage children to sip water throughout the day.
All materials produced by the Natural Hydration Council are approved by our Independent Scientific Panel. For more information on this or the Healthy Hydration Glass (designed by the Natural Hydration Council and advised by the British Nutrition Foundation) please go to our website; www.naturalhydrationcouncil.org.uk About 2 years ago

Nickie Brander
A significant proportion of childhood continence problems (currently affecting more than one in 12 school-age pupils) are helped or prevented by adequate hydration at school. The national children's charity ERIC (Education and Resources for Childhood Continence) set up the Water is Cool in School campaign in 2000 to raise awareness of the need for schools to improve both their provision of and access to drinking water. It is good to also see the link between drinking and engaged learning - it is this aspect that primarily interests schools. Water bottles on desks filled from chilled mains-fed water coolers are now the norm in many schools. For schools that still need a nudge in the right direction, the campaign website www.wateriscoolinschool.org.uk provides information and help.

However drinking water is only half the story. One of the huge barriers to pupils drinking at school is the toilets. If the toilets are repellent, scary, or they are not allowed access when they need them, pupils won’t drink adequately, if at all. In 2004 ERIC launched the Bog Standard campaign www.bog-standard.org. ERIC has spent years lobbying for regulations to require schools to have minimum standards for their toilets and drinking water – and which match those that protect adults in the workplace, including teachers in school. In the meantime, to encourage and reward good practice, it has launched a School Toilet Award.
About 2 years ago

Children who drink water do better at school

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