Health :: Tips for Keeping Your Family Hydrated

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I make it a big priority to make sure that our entire family stays hydrated, from my husband to my child to our furry family.  I am constantly bugging, yes, I would use the word bugging, my husband and daughter about making sure they drink enough water during the day. I can usually tell if they haven’t as their moods tend to change.  Yes, dehydration can make one feel sleepy, grumpy, and even have low energy!  If you are at the point of feeling thirsty, believe it or not, it means you are already dehydrated.  The key is to maintain a balance of hydration throughout the day, not just when you feel thirsty, because at that point you are already feeling the effects of dehydration.

While studying for my Masters in Human Nutrition, I was required to read Dr. F. Batmanghelidj’s book, Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, and it had such a profound effect on my health.  Many people’s ailments can be traced back to dehydration, and they might be helped if they increased their water intake.

So how do I get my family to be on top of this?  Recently, I had my daughter help pack her lunch and I offered healthy snacks, some treats, and water for her to pick and choose what she wanted to eat for the day.  Now that we are officially heading into fall, I like to make big batches of soup and send her on her way in the mornings with a fresh bowl.  She has complained in the past that we didn’t provide her with enough food so now we involve her so she can’t complain!  Well, she is a kid and they might complain here and there regardless.  You know how it is moms and dads! Some days we can’t seem to get anything right.  But at least if she is helping with picking some healthy lunch choices, we know that she will eat what she packs for the day.

Another idea you could use to try to get your family to drink more water is to label some water bottles with everyone’s name and put them in the fridge.  Say each person has at least 4 bottles (or 8 mini bottles) and it is their “goal” to drink them by the end of the day.  Kids love competition so this might be the encouragement they need.  Also, be sure to bring along water to their sporting events and fill with quality water such as Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water and ice.  My daughter loves it when I remember to bring chilled water to her practices and games.  And I must say the Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water is really delicious.  Nestlé adds minerals as well and it gives the water a really good taste.

Nestlé® Pure Life® Purified Water can be found at your local Walmart in the bottled water section.

Are you struggling to get your family to drink as much water as they should? You’re not alone. Nestlé® Pure Life® asked moms and kids in a recent survey*, and they said drinking water is one of the biggest “healthy habit” struggles moms have with their kids (38%), even more than struggles like “eat your fruit” (29%), “get enough exercise” (23%), and “eat your breakfast” (19%).  According to moms, water is what their child most regularly drinks in the car (88%) and 97% of moms think making one healthy choice leads to making other healthy choices. Here are some great tips to help get the conversation started and make drinking enough water a way of life!

Tips for Hydration by Robin Plotkin:

• Have cups, straws, lids and other drinking “equipment” available to provide to your kids to make drinking water more fun. Empower them to fill their own cups of water and praise them when they do.
• Lead by example. Each time Mom or Dad goes for a drink of water, ask your children if they’d like a drink of water, too. Soon, it will be the kids asking the parents if they’d like to join them for a water break.
• Checking your child’s urine color is a simple way to gauge whether or not enough he/she is getting enough fluid each day. When well hydrated, urine should be straw or lemonade color. If the urine is dark yellow, encourage additional water intake.

As a proud supporter of the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Drink Up initiative, Nestlé® Pure Life® is committed to helping families make healthier choices, starting with hydration. They know that establishing healthy habits in early childhood has lifelong benefits.  They call this The Ripple Effect, and are encouraging moms and their kids to reach for water first.

To ignite The Ripple Effect movement and encourage kids to get the water they need throughout their day, Nestlé® Pure Life® has committed to provide nearly one million 8 ounce servings of water to kids this school year at over 20 participating schools in select markets across the country through After-School All-Stars, an organization that strives to keep children safe and healthy through after school programming.

To help your family Drink Up and be a part of The Ripple Effect – a movement to keep kids hydrated – visit pureliferippleeffect.com and share your tips for healthy hydration using #pureliferippleeffect.

I’ve shared my tricks with you on how we use Nestlé® Pure Life® Water to create a delicious back-to-school lunch! What is your favorite way to use it for your family?

You can find Nestlé® Pure Life® at Walmart, visit them on Facebook.

*Online survey conducted in June 2015 of 1,077 moms of kids ages 6-12 overall, including 254 Hispanic moms of kids ages 6-12. 1,077 kids ages 6-12 from the same household were also surveyed, including 254 Hispanic kids ages 6-12. © 2015 Nestlé® Waters North America Inc.