Water is an essential element for the functioning of the organism, which is largely formed by this element. While it is important at any age, it is essential for developing children. In addition, the volume of body water is higher in infants and children and decreases with age.
In an infant 70% of the body weight of an infant (up to 24 months) is water, while in adults that proportion is 50%. When their bodies contain a greater proportion of water they need to take 10-15% of their weight in water every day, an amount that is completed with water and other foods that contain it, from milk to fruits ...
Children need more water than adults due to the limited ability of your kidneys to handle the renal load of solutes, their highest percentage of body water and their largest surface area per unit of body weight.
Within a healthy diet for children, water is one of the most appropriate drinks. Breastfed babies receive the amount of water needed through breast milk, and those fed with formula milk as well.
Therefore the moment of introduction of water as an "independent" drink will come later, when they start the complementary feeding after six months. Then it is convenient to start offering them water, along with milk if they continue drinking (not instead of milk).
It is water is the perfect drink that we can offer the child between meals, as it is not recommended to offer sweetened beverages or soft drinks with bubbles, which make you lose your appetite and contribute to tooth decay and obesity. During meals, it is also the best companion (although freshly prepared natural juices, with a lot of water and vitamins, not packaged and sugary juices are also recommended).
Why do we need water?
We need water to not dehydrate. Dehydration is the excessive loss of body fluids. The body loses water continuously, but it is a loss associated with several vital functions. The air we breathe is saturated with water in the lungs before being expelled. Digestion requires a large amount of fluid for the work of digestive enzymes and to help transfer substances from the intestines to the bloodstream.
Fluid loss It is also caused by perspiration, the need for water to eliminate waste products produced by protein intake in the urine ...
The maintenance of water in the body and mineral balance is essential. Although severe dehydration is rare, mild dehydration is common in everyday life, for example in children who are more sensitive to heat (with high temperatures you have to keep babies and children well hydrated) or losses of fluids in diarrhea and vomiting.
As for the importance of water consumption in hot weather, it is important to remember that the increase in body temperature is regulated by sweat. When children (and adults) sweat they remove water through the pores, so it is necessary to replace that loss to avoid dehydration.
Young babies do not yet have the thermal regulation mechanism well established, perspiration is not totally effective, so we should breastfeed them more frequently in summer. They also cannot express themselves by asking for water, so they will do it through crying, discomfort ... and it is better to prevent and offer them milk often.
When drinking water, the concentration of minerals in the blood returns to normal, we rehydrate and the thirst disappears. The amount of water children need It is very easy to calculate: what they ask for or drink when we offer them, provided that the rest of the diet is balanced in terms of fruits, vegetables and the rest of the breaths that also provide water to the body.
The feeding pyramids place water at the base, next to fruits and vegetables (so rich in water) in the new pyramid proposals.
This attests to the importance of water in infant feeding, and so we understand, moving to other realities that sometimes seem too distant to us, the efforts that international health and children's agencies make for children in developing countries can also access healthy water.
Photos | Flickr (Pink Sherbet Photography), lindseygee on Flickr-CC In Babies and more | The importance of water in the children's diet, which water is better for babies and children (I), (II), (III) and (IV)
