Hydration And Cognitive Function In Children Summary

The article, Hydration and Cognitive Function in Children by Kristen D’Anci, Florence Constant and Irwin Rosenberg from the Nutrition in Clinical Care discuses why children are more susceptible to dehydration and how dehydration affects learning and memory. D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg (2006) first discuss dehydration causes and increase in Vasopressin. Vasopressin is release to the kidneys as a way to increase water retention. Vasopressin is the result of the thirst sensation (p.457-458). It is recommended children drink “1mL” of water per “kcal” (D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg 2006, 458). Children are more prone to dehydration because they contain a larger “surface-to-mass ratio” which mean there is a greater opportunity for water to evaporate from their skin (D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg 2006, 458). …show more content…
These children were first placed into the hydrated or dehydrated groups through a urine test. After this “five test were administered:1) hidden figure, 2) auditory number span, 3) making groups,4) verbal analogies and 5) number addition” (D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg 2006, p.460). The results found no difference at the start of the examination, however by the end of the day the hydrated children had much larger “short-term memory scores” than the dehydrated children (D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg 2006 p.460). D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg (2006) states severe dehydration can lead to diarrhea, and suggests persistent dehydration may lead to permanent cognitive disabilities (p.461). However, the authors state, this is still a very unknown concept, which deserves more studies to be conducted (D’Anci, Constant and Rosenberg 2006,