To think water only at school is ridiculous

[Joanne279]

I'm having a gripe at my kids new school. We werent informed of the water only rule before we started.

Ds aged 6 and dd aged 9 (suffers with autism) now refuse to drink.

Ds, on the grounds he hates water. I gave him flavoured water which he likes, but the school said no!!!!!

Dd, has been allowed to take squash because is her ASD but now refuses to even take a drink because she's different to everyone else. She won't drink water at all.

The teachers all drink coffee/tea in the staff room but kids are water only! Surely the teachers should be setting the example?

I've rang the council who say the healthy rules are at the school discretion. I'm waiting for a call back from the head teacher because I think it's stupid! I could understand if I was sending them with coke or lucozade, but flavoured water a no no? Really?

Just wondered what you all thought x

Bloody hell, some of you are a marketing man's dream. The human race has survived for thousands of years on natural fresh water. Suddenly it needs to have loads added dodgy chemicals for us to be able to absorb it properly? Are people really that thick?

I think brt is being a scamp actually.
Naughty brt.

You guys sound like your stuck in the past and don't want to take advantage of modern technology! We used to exist without the internet, should that be taken away too? Standing in the way of progress is very bad.

I thought fizzy was bad for you because its sugary, likewise squash and fruit juice.
Fizzy water is carbonated and I thought carbonated was bad for teeth.
Sugar free has artificial sweeteners and lots of contraversy over whether they are good for you.
Some have ethical and health questions with regard to milk.
Water is the best of the bunch overall, isn't it?

All the toddler groups I have visited over the years have primarily offered squash and most babies and toddlers were drinking squash from little plastic bottles. The only place that didn't do this was a Steiner play group in a nearby town. Squash and fuzzy drinks are bad for health and teeth, fact. Schools that are part of the healthy school programme are likely to do what your school did OP.

Could start giving them coffee with their lunch to give them a boost during the day

What I'm saying is that if children are given squash instead of water from the cradle onwards it's no surprise that they refuse to drink water.

Try filtering water, it does taste different and imo nicer sweeter.
Clean water is a human right.
Squash is not. Hth.

brt100 yes i know it is not table salt in it, thanks. I did say sodium.....

These drinks are not healthy for children. They are packed with sugar, caffeine and sodium at levels not good for children. They are not recommended for children and there is peer researched evidence to back that up. Energy drinks especially are not healthy.

www.nhs.uk/news/2011/05May/Pages/energy-drinks-and-children.aspx Ignore the fact they start off mentioning the dreaded DM paper, and read on and you will see the research findings. Children have lots of other opportunities to drink juice, milk etc during the day. They do not need it in school.

brt - I think you're kidding, but it's terrifically subtle - are you kidding?

If you give a toddler squash, you should prepare yourself for a child who refuses water. It's not rocket science.

It's a trewfact that people in the desert and such like when confronted with a drink of water would look at it askance and gasp (with their parched mouth and cracked lips) "no thanks, water is very dangerous. Must.Have.Squash/isotonic drink recommended by Jessica Ennis"

Works if you envisage Alec Guinness type in the desert scenario.

Dear lord.

She is kidding TheLovelyBoots

sugar-free squash has all sorts of nasty artificial sweeteners in it, sweeteners that we don't actually know the long-term effects of yet.

At our school, there are lots of children with weird fruit allergies (one even allergic to pears!) so juice is no good.

My AS child will only drink water, so we're good on this rule

I think people looking back 30 years saying they were raised drinking squash forget that there weren't so many foods that had sugar in them then. Sugar is in everything processed now- bread, cereal, you name it. I drank squash as a child, but I ate nothing with sugar in from one weekend to the next (only allowed sweets on saturdays), we ate no processed food in the week (homemade bread even) etc. Plus the squash we had was so diluted, it was more a wave over the glass really...

Just like to point out that in North America kids don't grow up drinking squash, no one has died yet from lack of squash!

My kids drink water all the time, with the old glass of apple juice or chocolate milk here and there (maybe 3/4 times a month).

The only beverage suitable for a sports bottle is water - sipping on anything else all day is TERRIBLE for teeth. A glass of squash or apple juice as a stand alone drink is fine, but for general thirst quenching and healthfulness throughout the day sipping on water is the best thing for everyone.

Just keep offering it, most kids will get used to it. Mine don't view a drink as a 'treat' or something that should taste sweet they just drink water because they are thirsty.

Dd1 used to ask for water at parties and sometimes got funny looks -'Oh-surely you'd prefer some blackcurrant'.

No -it was her choice. She had water at home, a water policy at nursery, and she preferred water.

www.salisbury.anglican.org/resources-library/schools/schools-every-child-matters/be-healthy

I am a bit at the suggestion that parents who don't serve squash are sanctimonious. We hate Ribena at our house, if you haven't been raised on blackcurrant it's vile. I would prefer to see them drink water with a weekly milkshake than a constant stream of squash.

Fizzy water is bad because the CO2 makes it acidic - it's as acidic as fizzy drinks but does not contain the same amount of sugar.

Dangers of water?!?! Only, as I said, if you drink massive amounts (over a liter per hour prolonged or several liters in one go). Water intoxication will happen with squash as well (squash is mainly water).

Yes, kids will pee more if they drink loads of water, they will pee the same amount if they drink the same amount of squash.

Aelf: What 'dangerous' effects have you witnessed first hand in a healthy child in a normal environment?

brt100 -

Poweraid is a 'sports' drink - it is not required by the normal adult/child in a normal environment. Unless you are doing professional/semi-professional sport it does not have any benefits over bog standard water. Many people undo their good work at the gym by finishing up by drinking poweraid or lucozade sport.

Contents of PowerAid:

Water, citric acid, mineral salts (sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium phosphate), natural berry flavouring with other natural flavourings, acidity regulator (E332), sweeteners (sucralose, acesulfame K), colour (E133).

The E numbers here should be a big clue that it is not something that should be the drink of choice for a young child.

As for VitaminWater contains 60% of your GDA of Vit. C and 10% of certain other vitamins. Good but you can get these from a normal diet. Many varieties have the same amount or more sugar than Coke - not really that healthy.

Don't forget both these products are made by the same people as Coke Cola, and are essentially just a marketing gimmick. They are not posion but cannot really be promoted as healthier than tap water.

adoptmama's link is quite good reading- one of the first findings:

The researchers first looked at the effect of the drinks on hydration. They said that dehydration can be associated with premature fatigue, impaired sports performance, cognitive changes, possible abnormalities in the body’s salt balance (electrolytes), and an increased risk of heat illness. However, they say that water is generally the best first choice for hydration before, during and after most exercise, rather than sports or energy drink

Water is fine. YABU
Children drink juice because it tastes nice, not just out of thirst I bet the going to the toilet distraction would be even worse if dc were bringing juice in. Agree with other posters that I dont remember anyone passing out at my school when we wern't allowed to drink in class at all.

Happy with the water only rule. I can imagine if they had sweet squash, coke, Mano juice, G&T, Irn Bru, etc then they would spend all lesson going for a drink. If they can have their squash before school, at lunch, after school - what's the problem?

Regarding centuries ago - went to Warrick Castle to be told that no one drank water. Women drank mead and men ale as water was unsafe. Hence they had no teeth from about 14 onwards (especially the women with their honey mead) - Interesting.

Isotonic is a crock of shit. As is thinking that flavoured water is somehow more healthy or better for teeth than lucozade - they both have shit-loads of sugar in them. If you want your kids, when they are at home, to consume high-sugar substances (which flavoured water is) then knock yourself out, but I can well see why a school wouldn't want them to - it's a public health matter.

Something which seems to be being overlooked is that feeling thirsty is one of the later signs of dehydration. Before that come things like ill temper, sleepiness and inattention. None of which are good for learning.

Surely better to ensure children are kept properly hydrated by whatever is necessary than imposing a ban which seems to serve little purpose other than to create another area where parents are excluded from parenting.

Water only for teachers? On your bike! Teachers are ADULTS at their PLACE OF WORK and are not subject to the same rules. What next - wear uniform? Save your energy for a sensible complaint.

Gnome, you could take your children home at lunchtime and feed them sugary drinks if that is your idea of parenting.