Autumn 2011
Volume 14 Number 2
Water, Water Everywhere but Not a Drop to Drink
Your Guide to Rehydration
The summer of 2011 will long be remembered in the annals of Minnesota folklore as that season when the sun sucked the fluid from our bodies. As we head into the dog days of summer and the beginning of the fall sports season, we should ask what is the best way to rehydrate our children?
What's best? Sports drinks? Energy drinks? Water?
Certainly water has the edge based on the price point. But sports and energy drinks are extremely popular with kids. Almost 30 percent of children ages 12 to 14 regularly consume energy drinks, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Energy Drinks: Energy drinks are big business. Their sales totaled $7.7 billion in 2010, an increase of almost nine percent from the previous year e
arlier. Sports drink sales increased almost 15 percent to more than $3.9 billion in sales through May of this year.
And all "rehydration" drinks are not the same. Sports drinks are those drinks that are colorful and can contain sugars, electrolytes and even minerals. They are advertised as enhancing sports performance and replacing salts that the body looses during exercise.
Energy drinks on the other hand, contain a stimulant, most likely caffeine, that provides the "energy" component of the drink. They are marketed as energy boosters, attention enhancers and fatigue combaters.
And water is, well, water. It's still free and good for you.
With our children, we need to be careful what we offer them during exercise, after exercise and when they aren't exercising. We don't want to promote excessive sugar and calorie intake or encourage dental erosion and obesity. Obesity in children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 rose in the United States to nearly 17 percent in 2007-2008. That's up from five percent in 1971-1974, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
According to the AAP, although sports drinks can benefit student athletes, they are not needed for the average child engaging in routine physical activity. The AAP says, "the use of sports drinks in place of water on the sports field or in the school lunchroom is generally unnecessary." And as for energy drinks, "stimulant-containing energy drinks have no place in the diets of children or adolescents."
Researchers don't know a lot about how caffeine affects a growing body. It not only interferes with sleep, it can cause anxiety, raise heart rates and increase the risk of dehydration. Even though we don't have good science on the bad effects of caffeine, we do know that there are no know benefits for growing children. Some energy drinks have more than 500 milligrams of caffeine, or the equivalent of 14 cans of soda.
Intensive Exercise: Athletes of all ages do need to replenish sugar, sodium and potassium. The sodium replaces salt lost in perspiration, and the sugar helps keep energy levels up. But a person needs to have exercised intensely for an hour before they need that boost. In general, for those occasions other than participation in an endurance sport, water is the best choice. A sports drink for lunch or while lounging around is not nutritionally sound. According to the AAP, we should eat our calories, not drink them.
In April 2007, the Institute of Medicine published standards for nutrition in schools. Part of its recommendations for schools included:
As parents, it's hard to counteract the constant barrage of advertising suggesting non-proven benefits of these drinks. If you believe the ads, these drinks will optimize your athletic performance, tone your body and optimize your mental agility. As parents, we can set a good example. And if we find our children using these energy drinks to stay awake, maybe they should be trying to get more sleep.
