School Water Only Policies Leave Children Dehydrated

The struggle to get children who don’t like the taste of water to drink it is real. Despite the posts on popular parenting forums, there are some children who just do not like the taste of water and will not be persuaded to drink it under any circumstances.

Due to schools having water only policies, these youngsters are not staying sufficiently hydrated and suffer from symptoms of dehydration. A 32 per cent of children are managing to get through a whole school day on just one glass of liquid with one in twenty parents saying their children drink nothing at all.

Currently guidelines recommend that children aged between five and eight years should drink one litre every day, but many are failing to reach this.

According to Easy Peel Oranges’ findings, three in ten mums and dads directly blame schools for making the day water only. Most schools insist that children only drink water whilst on the premises, but desperate parents are resorting to underhanded tactics in a bid to get children drinking. Some 18 per cent of parents sneak juice and squash into their child’s water bottle so they manage to get some fluids.

Despite clamping down on a water only policy, 71 per cent of parents said their school does not have a similar policy in place to make sure children stay hydrated whilst there.