Water and children, young people, pupils and students

SHEU : nationally-recognised, since 1977,
as the specialist provider of reliable local survey data for schools and colleges

SHEU have been talking to young people, about their health and wellbeing, for over 30 years. Among the many topics that are explored in the surveys is the issue of water consumption. Guidelines suggest that water intake can come from many sources including food, tea, fruit squashes etc., but organisations we work with are particularly interested in water.

Water UK suggest guidelines from the US National Academies Food and Nutrition Board:

•   4-8 year olds should drink 1.2 litres of water per day and
•   9-13 year old girls should drink 1.6 litres per day, and boys should drink 1.8 litres per day
•   14-18 year old girls should drink 1.8 litres per day, and boys should drink 2.6 litres per day
•   Water intake should be higher in warm weather or when the child is exercising.

 

Since 2006 SHEU have asked over 200,000 10-15 year olds, “How much water did you drink yesterday?" They are asked only to count plain water, not juice, tea etc., and they are given 5 options: Nothing, 1 or 2 cups, 3-5 cups, About a litre, About 2 litres, More than 2 litres.

  • Around 20% of 10-11 year olds report drinking about one litre of plain water yesterday
  • Around 11% of 14-15 year olds drank two or more litres
  • Around 7% of 10-11 year olds report having no plain water to drink
  • Around 30% of 12-13 year olds drank 3-5 cups (less than a litre)

Assuming yesterday was a normal day and one of the recommended guidelines is for 1.8 litres a day, should we be concerned that 77% of 14-15 year old girls regularly report drinking less than one litre of water in a day? (see chart below). 

 

Those 10-15 year olds who report drinking less than one litre of water 'yesterday' 2006-2011

In 2010 we looked at those pupils who reported drinking no water at school yesterday and the ease of access to water (table below). At school, 24% of 14-15 year old females who reported drinking no water did not have access to water at school.

(At school) % No water by Ease of access to water

  %Yr 10 M  %Yr 10 F
No 20 24
Not easily 10 13
Yes 12 14

 


See also -

There are a number of research studies into water consumption and young people including:

Should children drink more water? "Consuming water improved children's performance on tasks that require visual processing."

Providing children with water at school significantly increased levels of cognition “This research indicates that adequately hydrated children may perform better and be better behaved in school."

Can water boost exam grades? “The results imply that the simple act of bringing water into an exam was linked to an improvement in (university) students’ grades."

Drinking water in schools and overweight prevention "Our environmental and educational, school-based intervention, with the single focus on the promotion and provision of drinking water, proved to be effective in the prevention of childhood overweight."

An article in the journal Education and Health, (vol.30:3), describes how water supplementation improves visual attention and fine motor skills in schoolchildren.

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