With the hottest day on record in full swing, staying cool is at the top of everyone’s priorities, and staying hydrated is a must.
Drinking enough water is vital anyway, but especially during these days of high temperatures being witnessed across Nigeria − when the body loses fluids more quickly, making dehydration a concern.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) issued a weather advisory on Wednesday, warning that the hot weather could lead to dehydration, which in turn could cause fainting, heart rash, a slight fever, dry lips, weakness of the body, and increased vulnerability to diseases such as chicken pox and measles.
Most adults know that the recommended daily amount of water is two litres, depending on their level of activity, body weight, and whether they sweat a lot. But should children drink, particularly during this hot season? Is when they drink equally important?
Water nourishes the body and helps to prevent dehydration. Dehydration, especially after a long stay outside in this weather, causes confusion, dizziness, and irritability. A bad case of dehydration can make a child fall sick.
Ensuring that children take more water than a carbonated drink is important. Children tend to be good at knowing when they are thirsty. Although, in hot weather, it can be challenging to get them to drink a sufficient amount.
“About 75 percent of the human body is water, and without it, the body cannot survive. Dehydration, which results from this, is a deficiency and could be a silent killer,” said Mr Tunde Ajobo, a dietitian at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
Ajobo said school-aged children should be drinking at least six to eight glasses of water each day to stay hydrated and avoid becoming mildly or moderately dehydrated.
According to him, “It will help them to stay alert and focused, keep their bodies at a safe and healthy temperature, and may improve cognitive functioning. Most occurrences of dehydration can be easily reversed by increasing fluid intake.
“Children have immature thirst mechanisms, relatively high rates of fluid loss, and high activity levels, and are therefore at a higher risk of becoming dehydrated during hot weather or intense physical activity. Particularly in this season, they will demand more water to replenish that which is lost. They should be given, not shut down. How much water is lost depends on age, body size, physical activity, health, and environmental conditions. Dehydration can happen slowly, unnoticed, and quickly.
“Younger children and babies are more likely to be dehydrated. Since there is no provision for water storage in the body, their water demand will be greater, and as such, they must be allowed to drink whenever they so desire to replace water lost.”
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Dr Oladoyin Odubanjo, stated, “Most Nigerians are dehydrated. It accounts for our tiredness, headaches, poor ability to concentrate, and so on. This can lead to children not being able to concentrate properly in school, partly because they are tired and their blood circulation is not good enough.”
Odubanjo, a public health physician, said mothers only need to control the intake of water in children at mealtimes to ensure drinking too much water does not make them full and unable to eat their meals.
According to him, “As the body system begins to perceive dehydration, it triggers off systems within the nervous system that tell you to drink. And if the child feels that he wants to drink, it is a natural body system that is trying to prevent dehydration, so it should be encouraged.”
Children need water to maintain their health. They do better at school, too. In a three-intervention crossover study published in September 2019 in The Journal of Nutrition, researchers found that drinking more water during school made children more alert and interested.
In the study that involved 166 children aged 11 – 12 years, the children were checked before taking part in the study to measure their attitudes towards learning and how bored, interested, and calm they felt during the day. Their urine colour and cognitive skills were also recorded.
Over the next two weeks, the children were given three 500-ml bottles of water each day, and their moods, brain function, and urine colour were recorded again.
Results showed that increasing their water intake doubled the children’s interest in learning, significantly increased their brain function, and made them feel an average of 30 percent more interested during class. Also, higher urine concentrations were associated with lower accuracy on the switch task.
Parents can tell if their children are not drinking enough water and might be dehydrated. A decreasing frequency of urination is the first sign a child could be becoming dehydrated. Other signs to look out for include feeling thirsty, a low energy level, darker urine, dry lips, a headache, or a fast heart rate.
Easy access to water at school and encouragement to drink during the day are vital to maintaining a good water intake in schoolchildren. No doubt, if Nigerian children do not have enough water to meet their daily needs, it can jeopardise the primary educational function of the school day and their overall wellbeing.
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