The Times Union-Water is everywhere, not just to drink

October 3, 2010

By Jennifer Wilkins, Ph.D

Parents have a new worry. In addition to making sure their kids get enough and sound sleep, don't watch too much TV, learn and behave well at school and exercise every day, parents now need to worry about how much water their children are consuming.

At least that's what a new study, in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggests. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005--2006, the study's authors examined water intakes and concluded that U.S. children aren't drinking as much water as they should.

No doubt about it, water is critical to health and essential for life. About 60 percent of an adult's body weight is water and we can survive only a few days without consuming water from some source. Water is needed for myriad chemical reactions in the body. It cleanses tissues and blood, helps transport nutrients, serves as a lubricant around our joints and helps us regulate our internal temperature.

This revelation that our children are under-consuming such a vital element is cause for real concern -- and real scrutiny.

First, there's the issue of how much water people need. The "8 X 8" (eight, 8-ounce glasses daily) guideline has become well-accepted wisdom. But where did this come from?

In a review published by the American Journal of Physiology in 2002, Heinz Valtin, a Dartmouth Medical School professor emeritus, reported there was no scientific evidence to back this popular counsel.

Of course, in special circumstances -- such as in the treatment or prevention of kidney stones, strenuous physical activity, long airplane flights, or in hot weather -- water needs are higher. But barring these exceptions, most of our water needs can be acquired through the food we eat.

As the study authors point out, we consume water in many forms. Total water intake is some combination of plain water, moisture in foods (think of those juicy peaches you may have been eating lately) and moisture in all nutritive (such as low fat milk or apple juice) and non-nutritive (such as sweetened carbonated sodas) beverages.

One response, then, would be to provide more opportunities for kids to consume water-rich fruits and vegetables. Those include apples, pears, broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes -- all locally available at this time. This would also do much to address chronic deficiencies in kids' diet quality.

News that only 15 to 60 percent of boys and 10 to 54 percent of girls (depending on age) drink the minimum amount of recommended water must have felt like an early Christmas gift in the corporate headquarters of major water bottlers. Certainly, packing a bottle of water along with little Johnny or Janie's lunch is another way parents might choose to assure adequate hydration.

As with many choices made to address one issue, though, this one creates or exacerbates others.

Think Outside the Bottle, a campaign of Corporate Accountability International, lists several reasons to steer clear of bottled water, and opt for the tap. The campaign's main message is that water is a public trust. When it is treated as a commodity, democracy, health and the environment suffer.

Several cities, responding to the need to cut unnecessary expenses, are looking at bottled water purchases. San Francisco found that nearly $500,000 of public money was going to bottled water each year. In an executive directive, Mayor Gavin Newsom called for a ban on all city spending on bottled water. At the individual and institutional level, purchases of bottled water create waste and environmental impacts that communities must address.

According to Think Outside the Bottle, "Producing bottles for the U.S. bottled water market required the equivalent of more than 17 million barrels of oil last year -- enough fuel for more than 1 million U.S. cars for a year -- and generated more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. Each year more than 4 billion pounds of PET plastic bottles end up in landfills or as roadside litter."

So before getting alarmed by the findings of this new study and spending hard-earned cash on bottled water, consider water naturally in food and serve your child more fruits and vegetables. Turn to the tap for water as the beverage of choice, and support local efforts to install or restore drinking fountains in schools and public areas.

To read "Water is everywhere, not just to drink" click here.

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