Drinking Waters have a strong focus on providing solutions for schools that allow the easy provision of healthy hydration for children.
Children and water
Only 2 types of drink are strongly recommended for children by health professionals: those are water and milk.
For school age children, water is ideal it is a great way to hydrate, is calorie-free, tooth-kind and helps greatly with concentration.
Dehydration
60% of children are thought to arrive at school in a dehydrated state . Even a 1% drop in body mass due to hydration can impair physical and academic performance.
Why think drink?
Knowing when you are thirsty doesn’t come naturally; children have to learn this behaviour. Children’s higher total body water content and higher respiratory and metabolic rate makes them more vulnerable to the risk of dehydration, compared with adults.
So children need to be ‘taught’ to drink frequently and healthily for optimum performance. Research has shown that children drink more if they keep water on their desks. Healthy children should have 6-8 drinks a day (mostly water or milk) with the size of the drink depending on the age of the child.
Hydration Points in schools
Schools need to get the water message across that water is a ‘cool’ drink in every sense. Drinking more water, of whatever kind, benefits most people, but especially children.
Add to this the convenience and good taste of hydration points and you have a drink that goes straight to the top of the class. Serving water
from a water cooler is a safe, convenient, inexpensive and an appealing way to deliver healthy hydration and start good habits early.
Which waters are suitable for children?
Whether you choose a bottled water cooler, drinking fountains or plumbed water coolers for your school or home depends on a number of practical considerations.
Where there is no convenient access to potable mains water, bottled water coolers are the perfect choice. If on the other hand you have a suitable location for a plumbed hydration point then a plumbed water cooler or drinking fountain may be better suited.
About this Fact Sheet
This Fact Sheet was produced by the British Water Cooler Association, the most respected trade body representing companies supplying bottled water and plumbed coolers for over 20 years.
BWCA Members like Drinking Waters are under an obligation to adhere to strict Codes of Practice
and best conduct and are audited for compliance annually by 3rd party inspection organisations.
© British Water Cooler Association 2013
