Drinking smart

You need to drink regularly to keep healthy and keep you growing. Fluids help your brain and body work properly, as well as the digestive process. 

The amount of water you need to have depends on your age, weight, how much exercise you do and what the temperature’s like.

You'll need to drink more in the summer or if you've got the central heating cranked up.

It's important to keep drinking throughout the day. But what are the best things to drink? And how much should you drink?

Well it's easy to work out what not to drink! Young people who have lots of sugary drinks (fizzy drinks and squash) are more likely to put on weight and to be overweight.

The best drinks to quench your thirst are water and semi-skimmed milk. These don't contain added sugar that can damage teeth. A pint of milk each day will also ensure you have enough calcium. If you’re not keen on milk you could try fortified soya milk.

Fruit juice contains lots of sugar. Eating the whole fruit is often better because then you get the fibre with it. This makes you feel full up.

Juice is healthy, but one glass a day is enough. It's also a good idea to have this at mealtimes for the sake of your teeth. Either this or you can water it down if you like. You can do the same thing with squash. One glass of pure fruit juice counts as one portion of your fruit and vegetables a day. Two glasses does not mean two portions though. This is because you are not getting the fibre.

How much should I drink?

You should aim to try and drink at least six to eight glasses of fluid per day. Your urine is good at showing if you should be drinking more. If it's dark yellow then you need to drink more  – your urine should be light yellow. Remember to drink more if you are doing exercise. This stops you from getting dehydrated.