The impact of water consumption on hydration and cognition among schoolchildren: Methods and results from a crossover trial in rural Mali

Abstract

Adequate provision of safe water, basic sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities and behavior change can reduce pupil absence and infectious disease. Increased drinking water quantity may also improve educational outcomes through the effect of hydration on attention, concentration, and short-term memory. A pilot study was conducted to adapt field measures of short-term cognitive performance and hydration, to evaluate levels of hydration, and to investigate the impact of providing supplementary drinking water on the cognitive performance of pupils attending water-scarce schools in rural Mali. Using a cross-over trial design, data were collected under normal school conditions (control condition) on one visit day; on the other, participants were given a bottle of water that was refilled throughout the day (water condition). Morning and afternoon hydration was assessed using specific gravity and urine color. Cognitive performance was evaluated using six paper-based tests. Three percent of pupils were dehydrated on the morning of each visit. The prevalence of dehydration increased in the afternoon, but was lower under the water condition. Although there was a trend indicating drinking water may improve cognitive test performance, as has been shown in studies in other settings, results were not statistically significant and were masked by a “practice effect.”

Different Amounts of Water Supplementation Improved Cognitive Performance and Mood among Young Adults after 12 h Water Restriction in Baoding, China: A Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)

“…Among well-trained athletes, no differences in choice reaction time were observed after fluid supplementation [51]. In a crossover trial among school children, cognitive performance, including visual attention and short-term memory, were unaffected by water supplementation [58]. The processing speed and episodic memory were also not enhanced by different amounts of water supplementation.…”

Water Consumption during a School Day and Children’s Short-Term Cognitive Performance: The CogniDROP Randomized Intervention Trial

“…They suggested that thirst in children did not moderate the relationship between drinking water and cognitive performance. Others [7,42,43] reported that self-reported thirst in children was not correlated with urine specific gravity and urine color. Thus, it is not clear how sensitive cognitive performance is to feeling thirsty in children.…”

“…Thus, it is not clear how sensitive cognitive performance is to feeling thirsty in children. Studies in adults reported individual differences in the perception of subjective feelings of thirst regardless of water consumption [7,42,43]. Research with healthy school-age children is limited and therefore needed [11].…”

“…Children also have a higher total body water percentage than adults [5] and therefore need more fluids in relation to their body weight [5]. In addition, a balanced drinking behavior of children is important, particularly because children's subjective feeling of thirst shows no correlation with fluid intake or hydration [6,7]. Measurements in of the 5 th and 6 th grade (fourteen classes) was undertaken at a comprehensive school in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where nutrition intervention studies had been carried out successfully earlier [24][25][26].…”

The Relationship Between Acidity and Short-Term Student Performance on Exams

“…The tap water group was specifically created as a control for hydration itself having an impact on brain performance. According to a study from the Emory University Research Committee, hydration alone can have significant impacts on cognition and alertness (Chard, Trinies, Edmonds, Sogore, & Freeman 2019). Therefore, the tap water group was absolutely necessary to control for the effects of hydration itself on brain function since this study is aimed at determining the effects of the acidity of the beverage on brain function.…”