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Study Finds Many U.S. Children To Be Inadequately Hydrated

U.S. Children Drinking Water

Over half of the children and adolescents in the United States are inadequately hydrated, possibly as a result of not drinking enough water, according to a recently published study conducted by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

As if inadequate hydration wasn’t enough, some children involved in the study reported drinking no plain water whatsoever.

The study’s lead author Erica Kenny, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Social and Behavior Sciences at Harvard Chan School was quoted by the school in a press release published on its website as having said that the study’s “findings are significant because they highlight a potential health issue that has not been given a whole lot of attention in the past” and that even though it’s not an immediate health threat for kids, it is an issue which “could really be reducing quality of life and well-being for man, many children and youth.”

These findings are significant because they highlight a potential health issue that has not been given a whole lot of attention in the past (…) Even though for most of these kids this is not an immediate, dramatic health threat, this is an issue that could really be reducing quality of life and well-being for many, many children and youth.

Researchers behind the study examined data from 2009 to 2012 covering over 4,000 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19; all of whom were participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey — an annually conducted study by the CDC which examines the nation’s health.

The CDC survey’s includes urine osmolality data which is indicative of a person’s hydration as it measures how concentrated one’s urine is.

The study found that just over half of the kids and teenagers were not getting enough hydration and that boys were actually 76 percent more likely than girls.

In regards to race, the study’s findings indicated that non-Hispanic blacks were 34 percent more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be inadequately hydrated.

The study was published online on June 11, 2015 in the American Journal of Public Health.

The Harvard scientists behind the study were initially looking the consumption of sugary drinks in schools and looking for ways to steer kids away from such drinks and towards water instead, NPR reported.

An unrelated study recently reported here at Immortal News found swapping sugary drinks for water, unsweetened tea or coffee to reduce the risk of diabetes by 25 percent.

In other news, the recommended fluoride levels in water have been reduced for the first time in 50 years.

Are you surprised the number of kids in the U.S. who are inadequately hydrated?

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