Beverage Consumption and Hydration for Kids

We hope you’ve have had a fabulous summer and that Nuun was able to help you stay hydrated during all your summer fun. Now that school is back in session, students and children are returning to their favorite fall sports. Make sure you’re addressing their hydration needs with Nuun!

How Much Water Does My Child Need?

In order to understand whether your child is drinking enough water, it’s important to know about DRIs. Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) are a set of reference values developed by health and nutrition professionals to determine how much of a nutrient is appropriate for specific genders and age groups.

This is how much water is suggested for each age group in a day:[1]

• Children 4-8 years old: 1.7 liters or 57 ounces
• Boys 9-13 years old: 2.4 liters or 81 ounces
• Girls 9-13 years old: 2.1 liters or 71 ounces

Keep in mind that while these are recommended amounts, they do not take individual needs and activity levels into account!

Are Kids Staying Hydrated?

Studies have been conducted to learn whether school-aged children aged four to thirteen were drinking enough water, and what other beverages they were consuming otherwise. These reports have been geared towards finding out the amount, type, and frequency of water and beverage intake for while comparing those values to the recommended DRIs..

One study in The Nutrition Journal concluded that 75% of children aged four to eight did not meet the recommended water intake.[2] On top of that, 87% of females aged nine to thirteen and 85% of boys aged nine to thirteen didn’t meet the recommended water intake either!² For children, the vast majority of daily fluid intake should be in the form of water. An appropriate intake of water can lead to increased absorption of other nutrients that aid in growth, leading to a healthier and happier lifestyle.

The report then goes on to explore what exactly school aged children are drinking. Surprisingly, an average of only 27.3% of a child’s daily beverage intake came from water! Milk accounted for 17.8% of daily fluid intake, fruit juices and fruit drinks made up 12.3%, soda was responsible for 9.4%, and sports drinks attributed to 2.4% of daily fluid intake. According to this study, a child taking in about 1.5 liters of fluid per day was only really drinking 16 ounces of water in a 24-hour period!

Hydration for Kids

On average, if school aged children are making water only a quarter of their daily beverage intake, you must be wondering what else they’re drinking, and how to help them make healthier hydration choices. It has been widely researched and demonstrated that an over-consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages can lead to weight gain, tooth decay, and an increased risk of other health complications like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.[3]

On the other end of the spectrum, studies have shown that children who incorporate a healthy and adequate fluid intake are more likely to make other healthy choices. So, it's a great time to talk to your kids about what they should be drinking to stay healthy.

By drinking more water,  and staying properly hydrated, children can potentially reduce the intake of other beverages that contain sugars and excess calories. While most sugary sports drinks contain extra calories, Nuun Daily makes for a portable, sugar-free and low-calorie electrolyte drink for kids that is healthy and easy to use! Nuun contains all the necessary nutrients to help you and your kids hydrate the right way and none of the stuff you don’t want.