Water

At Pete's Little League game yesterday, I was sitting with Julie and some other parents and kids on the bleachers. We of course all had our water bottles with us, as it was a very warm day. I said to one of the other dads, "How come when we were growing up, no one brought water with them anywhere?" When I was little, we never took water in the car or brought it with us when we walked somewhere or when we went to school or anything—and, more importantly, I don't recall ever wishing I had brought water with me. I remember my family would bring a big jug of Hawaiian Punch to the beach to have with lunch, but never water. You definitely couldn't buy water back then—that would have seemed outrageous!—but you also didn't have a bottle with you at all times just in case you got thirsty. Were we all dehydrated in those days or what? I don't remember feeling especially thirsty for the first 20 or 30 years of my life, do you?

Comments

[Elena]

I've thought about this a lot too. I don't dare leave the house without water nowadays. Why am I so afraid of getting thirsty? Are we at such high risk of dehydration?

[Tonya]

I think there used to be a lot more water fountains everywhere. You just don't see them much anymore.

[Steve]

Nor do I remember a problem with a large number of excessively fat kids, either. I think we ran around a lot more than some kids today.

I remember lining up for the drinking fountain.

I also remember watching b&w films on posture and proper etiquette. Do kids see those same kinds of films today?

[adenacb]

very good point! I think everyone is so attached to doing "the right thing" these days... it's out of hand...and I do remember Hawaiian Punch as well :-)

[scott]

I think part of it is that we all "know" that we should be drinking eight 32 oz glasses of water a day or something equally silly. We're so health conscious (or at least health-guilty) that we try to do it. But it's junk science. Drink when you're thirsty. And coffee isn't enough of a diuretic to dehydrate more than it hydrates.

[margalit]

I had a long conversation with my doctor about this very topic. First, he says that food is MUCH saltier than it used to be, and the processed salty food and snacks have made us a thirstier nation. The point about bubblers is also true. They used to be everywhere and we used them without thinking about the germs and the pipe corrosion. Now, not so much. We tended to purchase cups of drinks everywhere. A trip to the mall meant at least a large Orange Julius. Drink carts were more prevalent, too. We drank soda when it was relatively cheap, now it's much more expensive.

Additionally we're told all the time to drink drink drink more water. Which is actually not the best advice, especially for those with heart issues (a huge proportion of the population.) Over hydrating can kill. Because we are so unattuned to feeling thirst, by the time we do, we're already dehydrated. It's important to keep track of how much we drink, but not everyone should drink 8 32 oz glasses. Or what is recommended, 8 12 oz glasses of water. For someone like me with a heart issue, that would be enough to totally screw up my electrolytes, get my potassium out of balance. and put me into the hospital. I drink 2 20 oz bottles of water a day.

When you're talking about thirst and liquids, you have to count soup, ice cream, jello, or other solids that can be melted into a liquid as a liquid. So you might be drinking much more than you think you are. Nothing like being on an all liquid diet to teach you all about what a liquid is.

[Liz]

The only time I remember great thirst was at summer camp in Vermont (the 2-month kind.) I remember running for the bubbler after climbing mountains -big ones like Lincoln in NH. You're right - I don't remember being thirsty otherwise.