How to Help Children Hydrate More

How to Help Children Hydrate More

It is no surprise that teaching our children to drink water more may appear a task easier said than done. However, as many adults, parents and teachers know, there is a secret weapon in our arsenal. It stems from a well-known phrase: lead by example. It may seem rather tired and a bit worn out nevertheless, it is true and it is effective.

How?

Children often emulate adult behaviour, especially those adults with whom they have daily interaction. If you as the carer of a child are seen to drink water regularly, it is more probable that a child will be better encouraged to do the same, instead of merely telling the child to drink water without any example shown.

Why?

The results from a great deal of research, including a recent study at the University of East London , show that children are better able to concentrate, retain information, take part in activities and are able to better function overall the more hydrated they are.

Method?

Uninterrupted access to refreshing spring and filtered water – maintained at a pleasing ambient or chilled temperature – all at the press of a button. With more than 22 branches nationwide, this is easily achieved by installing a water cooler from AquAid.

Benefits?

Healthier and happier children of course. With AquAid, there are added benefits and these are at no additional cost to your school, academy, college or university.

For each Mainsfed Water Dispenser we install, a portion of that revenue is donated to charities. Charities such as Christian Aid the AquAid founded Africa Trust. These donations are utilised to implement clean water resources where they are needed most, like in schools and villages, in countries throughout Africa. At AquAid, we understand that helping others is key component to a healthy and strong organisation as is attested by our collective 30 years of supporting these charities.

If you would like to know more about installing a high-quality Mainsfed or Bottlefed Water Dispenser or Water Fountain, contact us.

The Advantages of the AquAid Bottle-Fed Water Cooler

The Advantages of the AquAid Bottle-Fed Water Cooler

As with all our bottled water products, AquAid provides Bottled Water Coolers and water filtration that ensure you are drinking only the finest fresh water available, drawn from three sources around the United Kingdom.

Our bottled water is pure and filtered to remove any harmful chemicals and bacteria, leaving you feeling healthier and refreshed. Many water-processing plants use dangerous chemicals to purify their water, but AquAid do not. Our water is as clean as nature intended it to be.

Bottled Water Coolers are the perfect solution where portable water or a mains water supply is unavailable.

A Bottle-Fed Water Cooler is ideal for placement in any workplace and for any size of staff contingent. These free-standing coolers are easy to move to a new location within the organisation should this be required.

Another benefit of having a Bottle-Fed water cooler is easy access to a source of proper hydration at all times. Tests have shown that a drop in body fluids can lead to poor mental and physical performance of up to 30%. Having access to fresh water and being able to replenish your water throughout the day will ensure that you are never thirsty, and that you are always able to perform at your best.

There is a reduced environmental impact. Our water bottles are collected, thoroughly cleaned, sanitised and re-used multiple times. Once spent, they are granulated and re-cycled in an ecologically friendly manner.

As we have branches throughout the United Kingdom, our bottled water delivery is quick and efficient.  We also offer an urgent water replenishment service.

Installing a Bottled Water Dispenser from AquAid not only means a healthier and hydrated you, but also the opportunity of the delivery of life-changing safe water for those in need. For each bottle of water supplied, a donation is made to the charities that AquAid have supported for more than 20 years. These donations are at no additional cost to our customers.

No matter what sort of water cooler you are looking for, at AquAid we have the perfect solution for you. Have a look at our easy-to-navigate website for the full range of water coolers that we offer for your convenience and continued health and hydration.

Water Dispenser Health – Counterbalance dehydrating food and drink

Water Dispenser Health – Counterbalance dehydrating food and drink

At present, it’s understandable that we may crave comfort food and drinks. The quick fix from salt and sugar loaded food and drink is undeniable, so even while you’re attempting to stay better hydrated, you may be ingesting dehydrating substances without even realising it.

Sodium is a big culprit

When you eat salty foods, your cells tell your brain that you’re thirsty. Examples of foods high in salt are fast foods, potato crisps, tinned foods, deli meats and condiments like tomato ketchup, brown sauce and sweet chilli sauce.

Sugary drinks also contribute

Much like salty foods, sugary drinks also tell your brain that you’re thirsty. Try to avoid these – fizzy, energy and sports drinks as well as over sugared coffees and cocktails.

Instead of eating and drinking these dehydration-inducing foods and beverages, drink more water and add these top superfoods to your diet for optimal health and antioxidant levels.

Blueberries

Yielding antioxidants, vitamin C and anti-inflammatory properties, a handful of these berries daily can do wonders.

Fatty fish

Fatty fish with omega-3s include salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel. Make sure that you only buy fish off the endangered list. A good guide to which are sustainable and safe fish to buy can be found here.

Soy

This does not mean using enough soy sauce to turn your sushi rice another colour. Soy sauce has a high sodium content. Clean and simple soy is recommended. Soy in this category includes tofu, soymilk and edamame. For the curious, edamame are green soybeans boiled or steamed in their pods.

Fibre

There are a variety of great options for getting more fibre in your body:

  1. Beans. Think three-bean salad, bean burritos, chilli, and soup.
  2. Whole grains. That means whole-wheat bread, pasta.
  3. Brown rice. White rice doesn’t offer much fibre.
  4. Popcorn. It’s a great source of fibre.
  5. Nuts. Almonds, pecans, and walnuts have more fibre than other nuts.
  6. Baked potato with skin. The skin’s important here.
  7. Berries. All those seeds, plus the skin, give great fibre to any berry.
  8. Bran cereal. Actually, any cereal that has 5 grams of fibre or more in a serving counts as high fibre.
  9. Oatmeal. Whether its microwaved or stove-cooked, oatmeal is good fibre.
  10. Vegetables. The crunchier, the better.

With all this talk about salt, it’s quite likely you’re now thirsty, so to help, here are a few thirst-quenching alternatives that are not only good for you, but will tamp down on your dehydration quickly:

Tea

The antioxidant powers of tea are present in both black and green tea. Moreover, you’re drinking water when you drink tea, minus all the sugar you would be when consuming fizzy drinks.

Calcium-rich

The health-conscious tend to stay away from dairy products for fear that they contain fat, but calcium is necessary for the body. If you’d rather not consume cheese and milk, take a calcium supplement.

Water

As always, the simplest and quickest route to maintain good hydration is to drink water more. To gauge how much water you should drink, refer to AquAid’s handy guide to start you off.

*updated from a blog post Jan 2013

Water Cooler Hacks – What Can We Do?

Water Cooler Hacks – What Can We Do?

During these rather unprecedented (for many) circumstances, it’s natural that we tend to focus on what we aren’t able to do: can’t this, can’t that and the list goes on.

As the saying goes, when all else fails, opt for simple (okay, there’s no such saying, but adapt we must). Here at AquAid Water Coolers, we took the image seriously and came up with a few options that for the most part, cost nothing but offer much reward:

Soak up the sun.  Disclaimer: although this blogger cannot predict the weather, news suggests that this week we may expect temperatures as high as 26°C. (not so much in the North though … sorry about that!)

Revisit your favourite TV shows.  From Rick Mayall through to Ricky Gervais, there’s nothing more therapeutic than a good ol’ belly laugh.

Build that model craft. Or planet (Lego Deathstar of course) or car, or dinosaur.

Plant something. Then tend to it, water it and watch it grow.

Have a conversation that isn’t a Zoom meeting. Call your furthest and dearest and have a good ol’ catch up.

Discover a new route. Try a different route while taking your outdoor exercise.

Increase your water intake. For real. Now, even more so, it doesn’t matter that you may need to pop to the loo so many times.

Relish the moment. Enjoy the time afforded: whether it’s wearing comfy, fluffy socks; brewing the best cuppa ever; cheat sleeping in for an extra half hour / hour or even longer (you little rebel, you) or diving into those books and reading for hours undisturbed.

AquAid Water Coolers: channels of interest to engage a hydrated brain

AquAid Water Coolers: channels of interest to engage a hydrated brain

Irrespective of the current circumstances that affect us all, we, of course, remain a proponent of how vital it is to maintain proper hydration levels while we self-isolate. That said, now we’re all hydrated and our neurons are firing (as they will do – a hydrated brain is a happy brain) there may be some uncertainty as where to (virtually) go in order to engage our thinking centres.

That’s where we at AquAid come in. We understand that being online may not be a focus of your typical day to day responsibilities, so for your convenience and to save you time, we have conducted our own online research, searching far and wide, in order to present to you a range of online channels that may pique your interest while you learn something new.

One we liked in particular is the FB page for The National Archives – as an example, they’re inviting followers to encrypt and crack a code using Alan Turing’s probability-based method: socsi.in/oJtap

Another is the Mental Floss Twitter account. The content is pretty much in the account name, although they do cover deeper and more thought-provoking content too.

innocent drinks remains a favourite of this blogger – their posts and tweets are a hilarious mixture of humour, useless information (by their own admission) and social distance challenges guaranteed to keep your grey matter engaged.

Last and by no means least, we highly recommend following AquAid’s social and business networks online – where we constantly refresh and update our content.

Of course, there are countless social networking pages and accounts that are slightly more serious and weighty, but for now, we’ll leave those for you to discover.

Before we bow out on this particular subject, a reminder that here at AquAid, we remain available for all your water dispenser requirements and bottled water deliveries.

Web us here, call us on 0800 772 3003 or e-mail: info@aquaidwatercoolers.co.uk

AquAid – Encouraging Access to Drinking Water in Schools

AquAid – Encouraging Access to Drinking Water in Schools

Recently, Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, spoke of his wish to have all London primary schools become ‘water only’ zones.

The reasoning behind this stems from a report that found that nearly 40 percent of children in London between ages 10 and 11 are obese. Mayor Khan said, “Making water freely available and introducing measures like ‘water-only’ in schools are some of the simple things we can do to not only tackle childhood obesity, but also improve behaviour and learning.”

AquAid has always promoted and encouraged proper hydration habits for every individual; however, a large portion of our focus has always been and continues to be ensuring the provision of large capacity water coolers, designed specifically for the school environment, to schools throughout the UK. Our water coolers can either be Mains-Fed for large schools where the water consumption is high or, Bottle-Fed for schools where there are no water mains close to a particular area.

This is because, at AquAid, we understand that remaining properly hydrated helps to improve attention, short-term memory, and well-being. The fact is, a hydrated child is a much happier child and to this end, we have always encouraged our school customers to be able to provide readily available drinking water for both the children and school faculties.

Further to that, our water coolers are all equipped with anti-bacterial taps to ensure safe drinking water, and various drainage options to reduce overflow and spillage wherever possible. Moreover, to help create and instil better hydration habits, we also offer free refillable drinking water bottles and free school posters to help keep water top of mind during the school day.