Everyone needs to stay hydrated to stay healthy, and you can't go wrong giving kids plain water. But what about kids who play sports? Do they need something extra to avoid dehydration? When it comes to hydrating kids and children, particularly those who play sports, there's a huge selection of sodas, juices, teas, bottled waters and other fluids to choose from. Another selection of drinks are causing a riot: sports and energy drinks.
Sports and energy drinks can include anything from sports drinks to vitamin waters, to "high-energy" drinks. What they all have in common, is added ingredients they say that "do" something extra, whether it's increasing energy and alertness, boosting nutrition, or even enhance athletic performance. But are they good options for kids?
Not really. The average young athlete can and should get all the necessary nutrients and hydration by eating healthy foods and drinking plenty of water before, during, and after exercise. During games and competitive events, drinks should be available at all times and regular water breaks should be about every 15 to 30 minutes. The amount of water needed can be different depending on the child's age, weight, intensity of the sport or activity, and weather conditions.
It's pretty ordinary to see kids chugging a Gatorade or other sports drink at a sporting event, but nutrition experts, adults and pediatricians want to make sure that children know there's a right time and a wrong time to drink them.Sports drinks and energy drinks are different types of drinks. Sports drinks contain carbs, minerals, electrolytes, artificial flavoring, and calories. They replace water and electrolytes lost through sweating during intense exercise. Also, energy drinks are loaded with caffeine and other stimulants including guarana and taurine.
Energy drinks are not appropriate for children and should not be consumed. Some cans or bottles of energy drinks have more than 100 milligrams of caffeine. Which is an alarming and dangerous rate. Especially for children. The real ingredient is caffeine. Caffeine is addictive but just like adults, kids can have withdrawal from caffeine. Too much caffeine equals results in no sleep, unable to concentrate on anything, and in very rare cases. Death.
These two drinks are a danger to kids everywhere today. Even though I tend to drink sport drinks here and there. Some people have totally neglected the drinks, and called them "fancy sugar water".
This just goes to show, that some people can be really mean.
I'm sorry if this blog post isn't as long as my last one, for I don't have much time. But thank you anyways to whoever reads this post, and as always. Comments, improvents and suggestions in the section BELOW.
Links I used to help me with my post
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/phys-ed-are-sports-drinks-actually-good-for-kids/
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/30/pediatricians-no-energy-drinks-for-kids-greatly-limit-use-of-sports-drinks/
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/05May/Pages/energy-drinks-and-children.aspx
I liked how you talked about sports drinks and energy drinks. Good information! However you forgot to write a conclusion and your own opinion.
ReplyDeletei agree with shanese, it was good that you also included a little bit about energy drinks, but you forgot to write your own opinion, other than that you did a very good job! ( :
ReplyDeleteThis looks quite good, Jeffrey. Well done. I agree that sports drinks have an alarming amount if caffeine and sugar. They kind of seem to be false advertising! I Ike how you used a light tone with this article so that the readers don't get confused. This article has a little less detail than last week's one. But that's bit necessarily a bad thing. I found this article a lot easier to read because it's not as complex and monotone. The choice of words you used is relatable for kids, and your grammar is pretty tip top too.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, perhaps your article could have included a tiny bit more information. What I mean by that is you gave detail, but there aren't a ton of facts that proved you did a lot of research. I also agree with Razia ad Shanese. You cut of your article without a conclusion, and I was a bit confused because I wasn't really sure if you were finished or not. Next time maybe try to sum up your ideas?
You have fine a long way from your learning blogs. Keep up the awesome improvement, Jeffeey. You should be proud.