Hydration for children
Depending on their age, children need 0.8 to 1.5 litres from drinks a day – ideally water, because fizzy drinks and juice are liquid sugar.
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Drinking enough is especially important for children – and the choice of drink helps determine their teeth, weight and concentration. Relative to their weight, children have more body surface area and a higher water turnover, and when they're playing they simply forget to drink. Headaches, tiredness and poor concentration in the afternoon can also be a sign that your child hasn't drunk enough.
The German Nutrition Society (DGE) gives guideline values for fluid from drinks: around 0.8 litres for one- to three-year-olds, about 0.9 to 1 litre at nursery and primary school age, just under 1.2 litres for ten- to twelve-year-olds and 1.3 to 1.5 litres for teenagers. On hot days and during sport, they need correspondingly more. The rest of their requirement comes from food – fruit, vegetables, soups.
The best drink is water – from the tap, perhaps with a slice of lemon or cucumber or a few berries for children who find “just water” boring. Unsweetened fruit or herbal teas are just as good. Juice diluted at 1 part juice to 3 parts water is an alternative now and then, not the standard.
Fizzy drinks, iced tea, fruit juice, ready-made cocoa and sweetened milk drinks are liquid sugar: a glass of apple juice (0.2 litres) contains around 20 grams of sugar – about as much as a glass of cola. Because liquids are barely filling, these calories simply come on top. A much-cited observational study of schoolchildren from the Boston area (Lancet, 2001) found that with every additional sweetened drink per day, the likelihood of developing obesity rose by around 60%.
In practice: a water bottle belongs in every school bag and on every table, water is visibly available, and parents drink it themselves. Children who are used to water from an early age usually don't feel they're missing anything.