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When it comes to requirements for survival, water is second only to oxygen. You can live only minutes without oxygen, for a few days without water, and several weeks without food. The human body is 60% water, blood is 90 percent water, muscles are 75% water, and bone is 25% water. Water is one of the main components of the body. Drain your body of water and you'll have only a few pounds of chemicals. Your brain requires one fifth (20%) of your body's blood circulation even though it makes up only one fiftieth of your total body weight. Water balances and regulates almost every system. You can't eliminate toxins from your body without sufficient water. Most headaches and feelings of fatigue are caused by dehydration. You lose about 10 cups of fluid each day. Even the air you exhale contains vital water vapor. If you wait until you are thirsty to drink, you are already dehydrated. Drinks that contain caffeine (colas and coffee) are diuretics, which means they lessen the body's ability to absorb and retain water. Drinking water is the most effective way to improve your mood and overall performance. Combined with a healthy diet, drinking water can increase weight loss.
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The best known guideline for how much water to drink is the 8x8 rule: 8 eight-ounce glasses per day. This is a minimum, and certainly water consumption is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Body size, activity level, and climate all influence individual fluid requirements. There are other approaches for figuring out what you need.
Here is a handy formula for daily water intake:
1/2 ounce per pound of body weight if you're not active (that's ten eight-ounce glasses if you weigh 160 pounds), and 2/3 ounce per pound if you're athletic (13 to 14 glasses a day, at the same weight).
— International Sports Medicine Institute
Or, putting it another way:
Drink 50-75% of your body weight in ounces every day. Sedentary people: 50%; Active people: 75%. To these percentages add 16 oz. for a dry climate and 16 oz. for strenuous exercise. (back to top)
About 177,000 young people under 20 years of age have diabetes. As obesity rates in children continue to soar, type 2 diabetes, a disease that used to be seen primarily in adults over age 45, is becoming more common in young people. Children with diabetes and their families, health care providers, and school personnel face unique challenges when dealing with diabetes. Learn more about type 1 and type 2 diabetes in young people and how to help them manage the disease and ensure their health and well-being. — National Diabetes Education Program (back to top)
It's one of the nation's biggest health problems — and it's growing by the day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimate that approximately 19 percent of children (ages 6-11) and 17 percent of adolescents (ages 12-19) are considered overweight. To offer some perspective, these numbers have nearly tripled among children and quadrupled among adolescents during the last 25 years. And then, there's the future: Researchers predict that nearly half the children in North America will be overweight by 2010, and data indicates that 80 percent of these children will likely be overweight as adults, placing them at a higher risk of developing health problems like high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes. www.revolutionhealth.com (back to top)
The prevalence of overweight among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 7% in 1980 to 18.8% in 2004. The rate among adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.1%. Overweight is the result of caloric imbalance (too few calories expended for the amount of calories consumed) and is mediated by genetics and health. An estimated 61% of overweight young people have at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In addition, children who are overweight are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem. Overweight young people are more likely than children of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and therefore more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Healthy lifestyle habits, including healthy eating and physical activity, can lower the risk of becoming overweight and developing related diseases.
www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/overweight/index.htm (back to top)
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
American Diabetes Association
Children With Diabetes
Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Mayo Clinic - Childhood Obesity
American Obesity Association - Childhood Obesity
CDC - Childhood Overweight
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