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Why water is important for kids

We’ve found an article outlining the importance of water for kids – something to keep in mind with summer on the way! What do your
kids drink? Leave your comments here.

Busy little summer bodies need lots to drink. But beware of fizzy and juicy drinks when the heat is on, says dietitian Kate Di Prima.

This summer, add ‘slurp’ to the slip slop slap routine because getting children
to drink regularly is especially important during the hot months. But reach for the water and milk because, according to the Dietitians Association of Australia, any fluid is not necessarily good fluid, and beverages such as juices and soft drinks may do more damage than good.

Water is the number one fluid to hydrate little bodies. It is fat-free, sugar-free, kilojoule-free and salt-free. Children need to be offered between five and six glasses a day, or fill up a 500ml water bottle twice. If your child is saying
she is really thirsty, she may already be slightly dehydrated.

Raising water lovers
These tips will help make water first choice in your household.

• Colour code individual drink bottles for your toddler or preschooler and have them filled with water in the fridge where the kids can easily reach.
• Place a jug of water and glasses on the dinner table.
• Freeze some brightly coloured plastic ice cubes and pop into littlies’ drinks at mealtimes.
• Jazz up the water jug by adding frozen pieces of fruit.
• A squeeze or segment of fresh lemon, lime or orange can add tang
  if a child doesn’t like the taste of water.
• When out and about, always have cool water on hand so other choices aren’t necessary.

Make milk #2
Milk is the second choice of fluids for young children. While milk is naturally higher in fat than other drinks, it also has important nutrients, like protein and calcium, and is about 90 per cent water. It’s number two because it’s important to offer water if a child is thirsty. Children over the age of 2 years don’t need full-fat dairy products, so give her reduced-fat milk as she gets older.

One or two glasses of milk per day as well as a tub of yoghurt or a slice of cheese will give your toddler enough calcium. A fruit smoothie or low-fat flavoured milk is also a healthy snack for children. If you are buying flavoured milk, compare brands and select those lower in fat and added sugar.

Watch the serve sizes of smoothies, which may be ‘super-sized’ and contain
a lot of kilojoules. Blend together half a cup of low-fat milk plus fruit and ice to make a one-cup smoothie.

Choose fruit not juice
Even though juice from fresh fruit is healthy, a bottle of it can contain the same sugar as three or four pieces of fresh fruit (100ml of juice contains the same kilojoules as 100ml of soft drink) without the fibre and other vitamins and minerals
it provides. Fresh fruit with the skin on is low GI and therefore sustains little appetites. Juices, however, are such a concentrated source of sugar and kilojoules they can lead to tooth decay, stomach upsets and diarrhoea, and an unbalanced diet – as children drinking large amounts of juice tend to not feel like eating their regular meals.

Keep juices for special occasions, dilute 1:4 with water and limit to one glass per day. If you’re going to serve it, use 100 per cent fruit juices (not fruit drinks, as these have added sugar). If you have a juicer at home, mix in some carrot or celery to dilute the fruit juice.

If you’re going to buy poppers, choose the small, 125ml size with a straw, not
a pop top, to save their teeth. The ones in the baby aisle will have less sugar.

Never put juice in a bottle for a baby.

Not the sugar!
Sugary soft drinks, fruit drinks and cordials are essentially a combination of sugar, water and colour. Although many say they contain “real fruit” or 5 per cent fruit, they’re low in nutrition and can contain plenty of extra kilojoules children don’t need. These are ‘extra’ or ‘sometimes’ foods and should be limited.

Try to avoid giving sugary drinks to young children or limit them to special occasions. If you want to produce a fun bubbly drink, add a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed juice to plain soda or mineral water. Steer away from diet soft drinks and artificial sweeteners for kids as diet soft drinks are still acidic and can damage young children’s teeth.

The ice block trap
Many ice blocks on sticks and in tubes are just frozen cordials. On a hot day, make your own ice blocks using plastic moulds (blend some fruit with low-fat yoghurt and freeze) or a slushy (freeze fruit such as berries or melon and blend). Alternatively, make a snow cone and pour over a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed juice.

Liquid lessons

• Don’t introduce unnecessarily sweet drinks to young children
• Never put juice or sweet drinks into baby’s bottle
• Avoid drink containers that pool liquids around teeth, i.e. pop tops
• Avoid large-sized sweet drinks

http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/practical-parenting/toddler-preschooler/feeding/article/-/6922197/why-water-is-important-for-kids/

image: Michelle Meiklejohn / www.freedigitalphotos.net

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