If You Play A Lot, You Also Have To Drink A Lot!

It is no wonder that water is one of the most important foods since the human body consists of more than half water. The body of an infant even consists of more than 70% water.
We can go several weeks without solid food, but only a few days without water. That we should drink a lot every day is not only true for young people, but also for old people.
Since our children often forget to drink, we should always make sure to offer them plenty to drink.

How Much Should My Child Drink?

When children play a lot, they feel thirsty. This is the signal from the body to refill the “water tank”. However, it is better to drink something before feeling thirsty, because the body is then even better hydrated.
Children between the ages of four and seven should drink about one liter a day. Children between the ages of ten and 13 should drink about 1.2 liters a day. You should also note that although beverages are the most important source of daily fluid intake, fluid is also absorbed through food. For example, watermelons and even cucumbers contain more than 90% water. Many other fruits and vegetables also have a large water content, which makes it easy to meet the daily water requirement, even if the child does not like to drink much.

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Also, always keep in mind that it never hurts to take in more fluids than recommended. On hot days, with lots of playing or sports, your child’s fluid needs can increase by quite a bit. Even a slight lack of water will decrease concentration and can cause dizziness, fatigue and headaches. For this reason, you should give your child something to drink not only after playing, but already before and during.

The Best And Healthiest Thirst Quenchers For Children

A super thirst quencher has little to no calories. For everyday consumption, the following drinks are suitable for this purpose:

• Water
• Unsweetened teas
• Spritzers

The very best thirst quencher is water and mineral water. It is a calorie-free refreshment for the whole family.
Highly recommended drinks are also unsweetened fruit or herbal teas.
Many children love juices, as they are very tasty and also provide them with important nutrients. However, they contain a lot of calories in the form of fructose. You can always find out how much sugar is really in the different juices by looking at the ingredients list on the bottle.

Even if a fruit juice consists of 100% fruit, it can keep up with cola and other soft drinks in terms of calories. That’s why juices should rarely be on your child’s beverage list.
A low-calorie alternative to fruit juices can be a fruit spritzer. For this, you can simply mix your child’s favorite juice with mineral water, keeping in mind the mixing ratio of ¼ juice and ¾ water.
Whether mineral water, juices, spritzers or teas, you should alternate between drinks so that your child doesn’t lose the desire to drink.

Water Is The Be-all And End-all

Water should always be the first choice. It quenches thirst without any sugar or calories. Drinks with a high sugar content increase the risk of obesity, provide the body with poor nutrients and increase the risk of tooth decay. In addition, the acid damages tooth enamel.
Many parents are not aware that a glass of apple juice naturally contains 15g of sugar, this amount is equivalent to 5 sugar cubes. The sugar levels are similar for orange juice, lemonade and also iced tea.

Drinking Ideas For Children

Water is often too boring for children. To make drinking more fun, there is a trend called infused water. This is various fruits, herbs or even spices that are added to water, giving even boring tap water a freshness.

Some ideas for this are:

• Strawberries and mint
• Lemon and lavender
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Currants
• Rosemary

A Drinking Reminder For Your Child

Children often forget to drink while playing intensively, but they need plenty of water to meet their daily water needs well. Here’s how you can guide your child to drink enough:

• Offer enough drinks with every meal.
• In between meals, you should always remind your child to drink.
• When going on excursions and doing sports together, make sure that there are enough breaks for drinking.
• Children also want to have freedom when it comes to drinking; you should offer each of your children their own drinking bottle for school or kindergarten, for sports and also for on the road, from which they can drink at any time.

So Many Sweet Drinks Are Allowed

Since drinks like soda, cola, and fizzy drinks contain a lot of calories and sugar and hardly any vitamins and minerals, you should save them for special occasions. I.e. Coke only on a child’s birthday party and Caprisonne on a trip to the zoo.

Milk Is Not A Thirst Quencher!

Milk is an important and nutrient-rich food because it contains many nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals. However, milk does not count as a beverage and is therefore not suitable as a thirst quencher. So if your child likes a glass of milk with breakfast, you should also offer him a glass of water to balance the liquid requirement.