The importance of water on a young child’s body and the ways to get your kids to drink more water every day
Today’s guest post comes to us from Amelia Johnson of StayHealthyWays.com, and she writes about 5 simple ways to get your kids to drink more water each day. In her article below, she discusses the importance of water on a growing young child’s body. Signs of dehydration in children can often be overlooked and caught too late. Also, instilling the habit of grabbing for a healthy choice of water is something that they can pass on to their own children. It may seem like common sense to drink water to an adult, but often if children are left to make their own decision about it, they will reach for the sugary, colored drink available to them over water. Practice healthy habits, educate yourself and be a good role model for your children and show them the importance of water on their bodies.
Enjoy.
– Will
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5 simple ways to get your kids to drink more water each day
The human body is composed of ¾ of water. It is very important to maintain the desired level of water in the body. Kids don’t know about this fact and there are always more ways to get your kids to drink more water each day, we just have to explore the options available to us as parents. Given this information, therefore, it is necessary to find ways to get your to kids drink more water each day. This can be easily done by, for example, offering water to your children enjoy inside of a fruit infuser water bottle. They’ll love it!
Lack of water in human body leads to dehydration. Dehydration means that the body does not have enough water to help it function properly. We lose water from our bodies through activities every day such as sweating, urinating, breathing, having diarrhea, or even defecating. This does not apply to adults alone, but also to kids. As such, it is very important to employ new and easy ways to get your kids to drink more water wherever you find them.
To recover the water lost through such activities and others, we must hydrate our bodies. This can be done by drinking and eating. Kids are at a much greater risk of dehydration. It is, therefore, necessary to help them develop this habit especially with the hot Summer months of June, July and August upon us to find easy ways to get your kids to drink more water every day.
The importance of drinking water to the body (especially for kids)
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To keep the body hydrated so that it can function properly.
As children are growing, it is necessary to keep their bodies hydrated. They should always have unlimited access to clean drinking water. A small loss of body fluids leads to a much greater reduction in the performance of both mental and even physical activities. Dehydration may lead to heat stroke in children. They are more prone to heat stroke than adults.
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Children thirst mechanisms are less developed than those of adults.
It is, therefore, important to encourage them to drink water even if they are not thirsty. Signs of dehydration in children include irritability, sleepiness, and headaches. It is also advisable to practice giving children water rather than soft drinks.
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Water helps to make us look young.
Water not only keeps joints lubricated, but it also helps in keeping us young and looking young. With enough water in the body, studies have shown that regular water consumption helps slow the signs of aging in human beings. Children also need water to lubricate their young joints as they grow.
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Water is responsible for transporting nutrients to various body parts.
Water does this process by transporting the nutrients to various body parts where they are needed most. This helps in enhancing metabolic processes in the body.
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Importance to the kidneys.
Kidneys filter about 120 liters of water each day. They cannot function without enough water. If the kidneys fail, to function, then the body cannot get rid of bodily waste. If there is enough excess waste fluids build in the body, it can lead to kidney failure or chronic kidney diseases; if left untreated.
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Water helps in controlling calories.
Substituting water for high-calorie beverages can help in weight loss. Those foods with high water content are absorbed more easily by the body. These types of foods include vegetables, beans, fruits, and soups. This is an easy choice to deploy in our ways to get your kids to drink more water because it is a part of eating and being healthy.
Why are your kids lazy when it comes to drinking water?
The raging hormones of your kid might be the cause of development of this type of attitude and something to over come when looking for ways to get your to kids drink more water each day. Water impacts moods in children and other functions like memory recollection and learning abilities. Due to their low memory capacity, children are not able to develop a habit of drinking water.
Children tend to concentrate on activities that are fun for them. They tend to use water inappropriately rather than drinking for their benefits water provides.
Water does not have a pleasing taste that some of the kids may want. Clean drinking water is usually tasteless. You will rarely find kids drinking water unless it is their only option. Instead, they will dirty and waste the water accessible to them. Think of a young child putting water in their mouth, playing with it and spitting it out.
Kids also don’t recognize the early stages of thirst. This can end up making them more vulnerable to dehydration. This can happen, especially when they are in the mobile activities like playing sports where a drinking fountain or water bottle isn’t easily accessible.
Kids have higher water requirements about their body weights than adults. Their bodies are in the stages of fast growth and development. They, however, are unable to maintain proper water levels. They like sweet tasting fluids, which are not recommended due to the sugar content and empty calories, colors and dyes added to many of these kinds of beverages.
5 simple ways to get your kids to drink more water
To make e sure that your kids are not dehydrated is not an easy task. It’s not about just telling them to drink water. The following steps may be applied as several ways to get your to kids drink more water each day.
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Buy water bottles for your kids.
This will be applicable especially when it is hot and kids are sweating. Give them water bottles to use as their drinking water to make sure that they are hydrated.
You can buy them the best fruit infuser water bottle. This is one of the best choices you can make.
You can also buy them a stainless steel bottle as one of the ways to get your to kids drink more water each day. This bottle contains a material similar to cooking utensils. It is easy to clean and does not contain holes.
Check your kids as they go to school to ensure that they bring a water bottle with them. This will help them in saving time going to the water fountain. They can conveniently drink anytime they feel thirsty and carry on with their day as another of our ways to get your kids to drink more water every day.
Let your kids drink water from their favorite bottle of their choosing. Start by asking your kids what they want their water bottle to look like so they will like to drink water from their favorite water bottle. Try to see if you can find such a bottle in the store. By doing so, your kids are better encouraged and engaged with drinking water on a more regular basis as one of the ways to get your to kids drink more water.
All these practices will help your kids drink more water overall.
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Engage your kids in doing some water activities.
This activity is effective and entertaining in teaching your kids the importance of water as one of the ways to get your kids to drink more water. You can engage your kids in activities such as canoeing or walking near a river or ocean. You can also encourage them to swim, especially during Summer. This will offer a refreshing and good exercise activity when it is hot outside.
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Share water fruits with your kids.
Some fruits, as mentioned above have plenty of water in them naturally. Try sharing fruits like watermelon with your kids. Watermelon consists of about 92% water. It is high in protein and lowers blood pressure. It can also improve the metabolic processes of the body.
Other fruits that you can share are strawberries. These fruits do not have calories, and they have a lot of fiber.
Coconut water is low in fat and calories but rich in minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients. And kids will love it. Not only is coconut water a nutritious drink, coconut oil also has some prominent effects on the skin, such as reducing cellulite and jock itch.
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Teach your kids about the water safety.
For example, while swimming; teach them to make sure that they go swimming while there is an adult watching. Stress to them the importance of the dangers of going swimming in deep waters, like the possibility of drowning. Here are some measures on Windy Pinwheel that you can take to ensure you are doing what you can to protect your children from drowning when it comes to pool safety.
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Keep water at your child’s preferred temperature in the room.
The last item in our list of ways to get your kids to drink more water is to allow your children to choose their preferred water temperature. Also, try to hide carbonated and sugary drinks to encourage them to drink more water.
Conclusion
Water for children is a healthy and also very important habit to develop to them while they are still young. Instilling the habit early in life will enable your children to grow up with the habit, which, in turn, they can extend to their children.
Be a good role model to your kids and drink plenty of water yourself as one of the ways to get your kids to drink more water each day. You will find that they will learn from you and definitely like water as they get older. Water keeps children healthy and also helps them to perform better in school. We should always be looking for new ways to get your kids to drink more water and it starts with you, mom and dad. Practice the habits you want your kids to reflect that you value.
With the effects of dehydration like the possible reduction in physical and mental performance, the results are easily seen in the classroom. Chronic dehydration, over a long period of time, may cause illness and health problems.
Start a healthy habit and share water with your children.
What did you think of these ways to get your kids to drink more water each day? Do you have any to add to the conversation? What methods do you use as ways to get your kids to drink more water each day? We’d love to hear about it. Please comment below and let us know.
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About the Guest Post Author
Amelia is a writer/editor with an endless passion for bringing a lot of useful and trustworthy information to the community. She founded StayHealthyWays.com, a blog dedicated to sharing quality articles related to health, nutrition, fitness, and beauty. As a typical interior, Amelia is a perfectionist in work. At times of leisure, she reads, listens to music, chats with some close friends and walks with her pet.
