W-O-W! (Part Two)

It's time to Wiseup-On-Water!  Obesity in children has increased significantly and continues to rise.   The high sugar content of soft drinks has been identified as one of the factors involved in childhood obesity. (10)  Replacing soft drinks in the diet with water (which has no calories) can help with weight control.(11)

Fifteen per cent of preschool children consume just under half their recommended daily energy intake in the form of sugary drinks. These drinks are nutritionally poor and can reduce children’s appetite so that they miss eating valuable nutrients at mealtimes. (12)  In addition, sugary drinks may not quench thirst as much as water, which encourages children to drink more of them. (13)

One theory linking mild dehydration to obesity suggests that low fluid intake may stimulate a preference for a high fat diet. Of all the nutrients, fat generates the most metabolic water when it is broken down by the body. By providing maximum metabolic water, a high fat diet could be part of a compensatory mechanism to deal with perpetually low water intakes. (14)

Obesity in childhood is a risk factor for other serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes (15), heart disease and increases the chance of being overweight or obese as an adult.

Good Hydration helps your child to:
Maintain a healthy…	Weight
Improve…	Attention and concentration
Resolve…	Toilet problems such as constipation
Increase	Exercise capacity and fitness levels
Reduce the	Risk of chronic disease

11 Levine B. Role of liquid intake in childhood obesity and

related diseases. Current Concepts & Perspectives in Nutrition

1996;8(2)

12 Petter LPM, Hourihane J O’B and Rolles CJ. Is water out of

vogue? A survey of drinking habits of 2-7 year olds Archives

of Disease in Childhood 1995;72:137-40

13 Rolls BJ, Kim S, Fedoroff IC. Effects of drinks sweetened with

sucrose or aspartame on hunger, thirst and food intake in

men. Physiology and behaviour 1990;48:19-26

14 Stookey JD. Another look at fuel + O2 -> CO2 + H2O.

Developing a water-oriented perspective. Medical Hypotheses

1999;52:285-290

15 Drake AJ, Smith A, Betts PR, Crowne EC, Shield JPG. Type 2

diabetes in obese white childen. Archive of Disease in

Childhood 2002;86:207-8

2003;57 (Suppl 2):S19-23