Guest Post: Water Consumption in Early Years Settings
Startwell Team Leader, Sarah Bates, shares information on the importance of water and tips to encourage consumption both in settings and at home.
*The following guest post represents the author’s personal view and does not necessarily represent the view of the Birmingham Early Years Networks (BEYN) as a whole. Any issues or questions arising from the content of this post should, therefore, be directed to the author and not BEYN.
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Birmingham early years settings are reporting an increase in parents requesting drinks other than water and milk to be served in settings. In this guest post, Sarah Bates, from the Birmingham Startwell team, shares information on the importance of water and tips to encourage consumption both in settings and at home.
Dental decay in Birmingham
Dental decay in Birmingham is a big concern. Birmingham has higher rates of 5-year-olds with experience of dental decay than England and the West Midlands.
The latest data, published in 2019, showed 29% of 5-year-old children living in Birmingham had experienced dental decay. This is higher than that for England (23%) and the West Midlands region (also 23%). This is despite Birmingham benefitting from fluoridated water which helps protect our teeth.
Public Health England Guidance and EYFS Welfare requirements state plain milk and water are the only drinks that should be served in settings. However, on our visits to nurseries, practitioners have reported an increase in the number of parents bringing their children into nursery with squash to drink.
Squash, even no-added-sugar squash, can encourage a sweet tooth and contains acid, namely citric acid. Therefore, squash and no-added-sugar squash are not a drink that Startwell would recommend for children in early years settings.
For optimal oral health, plain water and plain milk are recommended. If this can be established in settings and outside of settings this could help to reduce the number of children with dental decay as drinking sugary drinks frequently throughout the day is a contributing factor to dental decay.
Tips to improve oral health in your early years setting
To help encourage children to drink water in early years settings here are some tips:
Have a drinks policy and make your expectations of suitable drinks very clear to parents. You can download a copy of Startwell’s example drinks policy here.
Make sure parents understand the benefits of water. Water helps our brains function and helps us to concentrate and perform better. Birmingham water is also fluoridated which offers additional protection to teeth.
Practitioners should drink water in front of the children. Role modelling like Startwell’s Suzy Startwell character is very important. During snack and mealtimes, practitioners should drink water with the children.
Hold a focused water/hydration campaign in setting and extend the activities to home learning.
Use water charts in setting and at home to encourage children to drink more water. It also shows parents that children are drinking water when they are in setting.
Play fun water games in setting and send ideas home.
Use the Startwell hydration characters around your water station. Make your water station a welcoming area where children can help themselves to a drink.
Offer a certificate as a reward for increasing water consumption at home or in setting.
For more information about the Startwell Award and for ideas and support to encourage children to drink water in your setting, visit the Startwell website where you can also download water charts and certificates.
About Startwell
Startwell is an NHS Early Years programme to help early years settings promote healthy lifestyles, with the overall aim of reducing childhood obesity across the city.
As well as encouraging healthy eating and physical activity, part of the Startwell Award is supporting settings and encouraging them to promote good oral health habits.
Startwell uses cartoon characters to engage practitioners and children in healthy lifestyles and has an oral health character called Smiley Shen.
Sarah Bates is the Startwell Birmingham Team Leader
Sarah is a qualified Nutritionist with a Masters in Public Health and has worked in early years healthy lifestyles for ~20 years.
When she’s not at work, Sarah is Mum to 6-year-old twin girls who keep her very active!
Find out more about Startwell
www.startwellbirmingham.co.uk