Were we just all dehydrated?
August 31, 2023 7:17 AM Subscribe
Growing up I never had a water bottle-- you took a couple sips from the water fountain during bathroom breaks and drank milk at lunch. Now kids (at least middle/upper class ones) always have water bottles (in the USA). Were we just dehydrated all the time?
I think of it as a way of enforcing attention and attendance. If you don't drink, you won't pee. Bathroom breaks are bad for classrooms, and bad for workplaces.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:23 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:23 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
I think only drinking with meals or when you actively happen to feel thirsty and you’re near a water fountain or a faucet and a cup, like everyone did before water-bottle culture got started, is fine, and didn’t mean anyone was dehydrated. Carrying water around all the time is harmless but completely unnecessary if you’re not working in the heat.
posted by LizardBreath at 7:29 AM on August 31, 2023 [28 favorites]
posted by LizardBreath at 7:29 AM on August 31, 2023 [28 favorites]
Now kids (at least middle/upper class ones) always have water bottles (in the USA)
30+ years of talking heads saying tap water quality in the US, with the flouride and whatnot (not actually bad), is bad will have that effect.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:49 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
30+ years of talking heads saying tap water quality in the US, with the flouride and whatnot (not actually bad), is bad will have that effect.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:49 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
There was this College Humor's Adam Ruins Everything episode that mentions that the fear of being dehydrated may be overblown.
posted by DetriusXii at 7:51 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by DetriusXii at 7:51 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
A lot of folks find they feel better if they have water more often. I just had a long chat with a friend about how we didn't learn until our twenties how often a glass of water would perk us up when feeling sluggish. But I don't think we need to pathologize it into saying everyone was "dehydrated" either.
There may also be differences in how much water we get from food, since fresher food (soup or fruit obviously, but meat too) often has more water in it than something like chips or a granola bar. But I would be surprised if that's gotten worse over the time frame you described so it is more likely that we're just aiming for a higher point on the curve now. A water bottle is also a nice fidget object.
posted by Lady Li at 7:52 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
There may also be differences in how much water we get from food, since fresher food (soup or fruit obviously, but meat too) often has more water in it than something like chips or a granola bar. But I would be surprised if that's gotten worse over the time frame you described so it is more likely that we're just aiming for a higher point on the curve now. A water bottle is also a nice fidget object.
posted by Lady Li at 7:52 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
Yes, I do think we were all slightly dehydrated and like seanmpuckett said above, I think schools were doing it to us on purpose. Back when I was in public school I heard more than one teacher specifically say to students that they shouldn't drink too much or too often at the fountain because then they would need to use the bathroom later and that would be DISRUPTIVE.
I'm not sure things have really gotten much better, even though most schools are accepting of kids carrying water bottles now. According to my son who graduated from high school just a couple of years ago, even though he and all of his classmates carried water bottles, a lot of them still voluntarily restricted their water intake because of how challenging it was to use the bathrooms at his school-- their teachers for the most part insisted they use bathrooms of breaks, but their breaks between classes were very short, their lunch break was very short, and the school was overcrowded and didn't actually have enough bathrooms to support the student population so when kids would try to use the bathroom on breaks there was always, always a line.
In fact I suspect one reason kids carry water bottles now is that, since they have even shorter breaks and less access to bathrooms than we did, they don't have time to use the water fountain anymore.
posted by BlueJae at 7:53 AM on August 31, 2023 [17 favorites]
I'm not sure things have really gotten much better, even though most schools are accepting of kids carrying water bottles now. According to my son who graduated from high school just a couple of years ago, even though he and all of his classmates carried water bottles, a lot of them still voluntarily restricted their water intake because of how challenging it was to use the bathrooms at his school-- their teachers for the most part insisted they use bathrooms of breaks, but their breaks between classes were very short, their lunch break was very short, and the school was overcrowded and didn't actually have enough bathrooms to support the student population so when kids would try to use the bathroom on breaks there was always, always a line.
In fact I suspect one reason kids carry water bottles now is that, since they have even shorter breaks and less access to bathrooms than we did, they don't have time to use the water fountain anymore.
posted by BlueJae at 7:53 AM on August 31, 2023 [17 favorites]
The idea of pushing people to drink even when they are not thirsty has been thoroughly debunked, for example by a 2004 National Academy of Sciences panel. "The vast majority of healthy people adequately meet their daily hydration needs by letting thirst be their guide..."
Carrying water makes it easier to drink when you are thirsty, so I certainly carry one when I'm going to be walking around in the summer for several hours. I find no need to have one constantly, but there's nothing harmful in doing so. Drinking water to replace soda clearly has health benefits, and some people find that drinking more water reduces their appetite, or just makes them feel better.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:56 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
Carrying water makes it easier to drink when you are thirsty, so I certainly carry one when I'm going to be walking around in the summer for several hours. I find no need to have one constantly, but there's nothing harmful in doing so. Drinking water to replace soda clearly has health benefits, and some people find that drinking more water reduces their appetite, or just makes them feel better.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 7:56 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
Also the water quality in schools is often actually bad. An unfortunate number of school buildings still have lead pipes. Yes, those same schools had lead pipes when we were there, too, but back then at the turn of the century people were much more blase about poisoning kids with lead.
posted by BlueJae at 7:58 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by BlueJae at 7:58 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
I had chronic headaches as a kid until I started drinking from every water fountain I passed. So in my case, yeah, probably.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:02 AM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 8:02 AM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]
they don't have time to use the water fountain anymore.
Right. So they ask during class. And the moment one kid gets to go, a dozen hands shoot up and ask to go as well. Now you've lost the room for 10 minutes.
So, from a teacher-traffic-management point of view, it keeps the kids in their seats. Bathroom breaks are another story but the concept of the hall pass to limit how many can go takes care of that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:18 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Right. So they ask during class. And the moment one kid gets to go, a dozen hands shoot up and ask to go as well. Now you've lost the room for 10 minutes.
So, from a teacher-traffic-management point of view, it keeps the kids in their seats. Bathroom breaks are another story but the concept of the hall pass to limit how many can go takes care of that.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:18 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
30+ years of talking heads saying tap water quality in the US, with the flouride and whatnot (not actually bad), is bad will have that effect.
Most of the people in my life, myself included, carry personal water bottles rather than buying a new packaged water bottle all the time.
I think some of it is just a cultural shift, and some is this overblown fear of dehydration. Those two things are probably intertwined. Two of my coworkers were just talking yesterday about how they try to get their 64 ounces every day like you're supposed to. I did not chime in to point out that it's not really necessary to do that, but many, many people still believe that.
I do drink enough now, and have for a long time, that I look back in wonder on Young Me, who only carried a water bottle on long bike rides. I think we're all living with this mystery of what was up with us in the past versus now, and our answers may be different, like Restless Nomad's headaches or the medication I'm on now that causes dry mouth so that I'm drinking all the time. I just don't look like an outlier the way I used to when I was on a similar medication 20 years ago.
Water bottles these days are really cool, also, and water bottle stickers are a fun form of self-expression.
posted by Well I never at 8:22 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Most of the people in my life, myself included, carry personal water bottles rather than buying a new packaged water bottle all the time.
I think some of it is just a cultural shift, and some is this overblown fear of dehydration. Those two things are probably intertwined. Two of my coworkers were just talking yesterday about how they try to get their 64 ounces every day like you're supposed to. I did not chime in to point out that it's not really necessary to do that, but many, many people still believe that.
I do drink enough now, and have for a long time, that I look back in wonder on Young Me, who only carried a water bottle on long bike rides. I think we're all living with this mystery of what was up with us in the past versus now, and our answers may be different, like Restless Nomad's headaches or the medication I'm on now that causes dry mouth so that I'm drinking all the time. I just don't look like an outlier the way I used to when I was on a similar medication 20 years ago.
Water bottles these days are really cool, also, and water bottle stickers are a fun form of self-expression.
posted by Well I never at 8:22 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think there’s also a germ-phobia component to it where drinking directly from a public water fountain is considered unsanitary.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:23 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:23 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
Remember putting gum over where the water came out of the school drinking fountain? That was fun...
posted by Czjewel at 8:37 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 8:37 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
In addition to other factors mentioned above
a) more people are on anti-depressants, which can make you sweat more;
b) summers are warmer than they used to be, due to climate change.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:38 AM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]
a) more people are on anti-depressants, which can make you sweat more;
b) summers are warmer than they used to be, due to climate change.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:38 AM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]
Also, most public water fountains were disabled during the pandemic, including in schools.
posted by nkknkk at 8:39 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by nkknkk at 8:39 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]
When I was a kid running around whatever USAF base we were currently living on, we thought nothing of grabbing a drink from any garden hose we saw in a yard. Never cleaned 1970s-era garden hoses. Yum!
posted by COD at 8:45 AM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by COD at 8:45 AM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]
Like you, I grew up at a time when you didn't bring a bottle to school, except for maybe a small juice carton if you took your own lunch. Water was available to kids using the canteen at lunch time, and that was all.
I can remember being a bit thirsty sometimes, particularly in sun-trap classrooms in the afternoon. Thirsty enough to look forward to a cool drink after the 30 minute walk home, at least. Maybe occasionally thirsty enough to go and seek out a water fountain - we had a couple at secondary school, I think. There may have been one or two occasions where I felt that fuzzy-headedness and mild headache you sometimes get when a bit dehydrated, but that would have been on a rare hot day.
Incidentally, I have a friend of a similar age to me (50s) who drinks hardly anything. Like maybe a small glass of fruit juice in the morning, and that's all. She says she's just fine. Depending on your diet, you may be getting enough water just from food, as it turns out.
posted by pipeski at 9:05 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I can remember being a bit thirsty sometimes, particularly in sun-trap classrooms in the afternoon. Thirsty enough to look forward to a cool drink after the 30 minute walk home, at least. Maybe occasionally thirsty enough to go and seek out a water fountain - we had a couple at secondary school, I think. There may have been one or two occasions where I felt that fuzzy-headedness and mild headache you sometimes get when a bit dehydrated, but that would have been on a rare hot day.
Incidentally, I have a friend of a similar age to me (50s) who drinks hardly anything. Like maybe a small glass of fruit juice in the morning, and that's all. She says she's just fine. Depending on your diet, you may be getting enough water just from food, as it turns out.
posted by pipeski at 9:05 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
In the amounts people usually consume, there's no particular harm in toting around a water bottle to drink from, even when it's not hot/you're not exercising.
However, most grown adults have limited time, attention, and willpower to devote to looking after their health, and, without some unusual underlying medical condition, it is bonkers to spend it on struggling to down 64 ounces a day rather than almost anything else. We weren't dehydrated constantly back then.
posted by praemunire at 9:12 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
However, most grown adults have limited time, attention, and willpower to devote to looking after their health, and, without some unusual underlying medical condition, it is bonkers to spend it on struggling to down 64 ounces a day rather than almost anything else. We weren't dehydrated constantly back then.
posted by praemunire at 9:12 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I wonder if you're underestimating just how much water we consumed from water fountains? Growing up, I drank from fountains ALL THE TIME. Schools, parks, museums during field trips, you name it.
posted by capricorn at 9:16 AM on August 31, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by capricorn at 9:16 AM on August 31, 2023 [12 favorites]
When I was in school if you wanted a drink in the middle of class time you requested a chance to go pee, and hit the drinking fountain as well as they wouldn't release you just to go drink. (There were no hall passes in those days.) You couldn't easily get permission to go pee less than an hour before recess, lunch time or the end of school. You were asked if you couldn't just hold it. So if you went to the drinking fountain and to the bathroom as soon as recess started, as we often did, your active play time was significantly reduced from the scheduled fifteen minutes that also included lining up and leaving the building and lining up and coming inside.
The two kindergarten classes had both a bathroom cubicle and a drinking fountain right in the classroom. Access to both was at will, except during circle time.
When we had gym (usually every second day) the whole class was expect to line up for the water fountain on our way to gym and on the way back, and if we attempted to dodge out of it, we might get shooed back to get into the line and have a drink whether we wanted it or no.
Drinking fountains were often out of service due to getting full of sand (probably being emptied out of shoes) and being the place you disposed of illicit chewing gum. When they were out of service we got escorted to the nearest working one.
In the very late sixties I was one of those rare kids who had a water bottle. I got sick headaches (migraines) on warm days or if they took us outside into the sun, so one was obtained for me. The water did nothing to prevent or treat the migraines, and the bottle was plastic and made any liquid in it taste funny. Not only that, but I have anhydrosis, and barely sweat at all - part of why I overheat so easily; it sucks - so I don't lose fluid from sweating the way other people do. I still got handed the water bottle and told to use it.
In the climate where I lived I don't think we got dehydrated or suffered from a serious bad effect if we did. It wasn't Arizona. People are usually very good at managing without drinking, due to our history as endurance race walkers.
Worth noting that some people drink water to reduce anxiety, the way others smoke or chew gum and gnaw on a fidget toy. And while drinking lots and lots of water over the whole day doesn't endanger the person with water intoxication, it can over time result in leaching too many minerals out of the body. It has been observed that this can contribute to osteoporosis because the kidneys filter out calcium while processing all that water into pee. The increase in osteoporosis is being blamed on people doing less weight bearing exercise nowadays, but I wonder if any part of it is because we are being encouraged to drink so much.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:16 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
The two kindergarten classes had both a bathroom cubicle and a drinking fountain right in the classroom. Access to both was at will, except during circle time.
When we had gym (usually every second day) the whole class was expect to line up for the water fountain on our way to gym and on the way back, and if we attempted to dodge out of it, we might get shooed back to get into the line and have a drink whether we wanted it or no.
Drinking fountains were often out of service due to getting full of sand (probably being emptied out of shoes) and being the place you disposed of illicit chewing gum. When they were out of service we got escorted to the nearest working one.
In the very late sixties I was one of those rare kids who had a water bottle. I got sick headaches (migraines) on warm days or if they took us outside into the sun, so one was obtained for me. The water did nothing to prevent or treat the migraines, and the bottle was plastic and made any liquid in it taste funny. Not only that, but I have anhydrosis, and barely sweat at all - part of why I overheat so easily; it sucks - so I don't lose fluid from sweating the way other people do. I still got handed the water bottle and told to use it.
In the climate where I lived I don't think we got dehydrated or suffered from a serious bad effect if we did. It wasn't Arizona. People are usually very good at managing without drinking, due to our history as endurance race walkers.
Worth noting that some people drink water to reduce anxiety, the way others smoke or chew gum and gnaw on a fidget toy. And while drinking lots and lots of water over the whole day doesn't endanger the person with water intoxication, it can over time result in leaching too many minerals out of the body. It has been observed that this can contribute to osteoporosis because the kidneys filter out calcium while processing all that water into pee. The increase in osteoporosis is being blamed on people doing less weight bearing exercise nowadays, but I wonder if any part of it is because we are being encouraged to drink so much.
posted by Jane the Brown at 9:16 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I, too, had chronic headaches, like 3-4 days a week, from elementary to high school that I now think were caused by dehydration. I don't remember any gym teacher telling us to drink up after spending an hour running around in the sun and humidity, no healthcare experts suggesting more water when I'd complain of pain, etc.
I've never had much of a thirst drive, so I'm sure it was partly on me, but I'm still pissed about suffering so unnecessarily.
posted by It's_pecano at 9:21 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
I've never had much of a thirst drive, so I'm sure it was partly on me, but I'm still pissed about suffering so unnecessarily.
posted by It's_pecano at 9:21 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
30+ years of talking heads saying tap water quality in the US, with the flouride and whatnot (not actually bad), is bad will have that effect.
Reusable water bottles are part of school supplies now. It's just to keep them from having to leave classroom for the water fountain if one even exists or, like, carry water around in one cupped hand or whatever.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:55 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Reusable water bottles are part of school supplies now. It's just to keep them from having to leave classroom for the water fountain if one even exists or, like, carry water around in one cupped hand or whatever.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:55 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
I would estimate the total number of times I saw the inside of the bathrooms in middle and high school in the lowish double digits, and only that high because of menstrual needs in high school. I'm pretty sure kids should need to pee more often than that. I frequently had headaches as well, certainly way more frequently than I've ever noted as an adult.
I often did that desperate-gulping thing when I got home from school, finishing a cup of drink in one go.
When I was in college early 90s, food and drink wasn't allowed in classrooms and really only professors broke that rule, usually with a mug of coffee or water. By closer to '95 though I noticed more people carrying the big lidded coffee/drink handle mugs that the student center convenience store sold (and soda/coffee refills in it were super cheap) into class, but I don't know if that was just senior-level class students not giving a shit or an overall trend.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:16 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I often did that desperate-gulping thing when I got home from school, finishing a cup of drink in one go.
When I was in college early 90s, food and drink wasn't allowed in classrooms and really only professors broke that rule, usually with a mug of coffee or water. By closer to '95 though I noticed more people carrying the big lidded coffee/drink handle mugs that the student center convenience store sold (and soda/coffee refills in it were super cheap) into class, but I don't know if that was just senior-level class students not giving a shit or an overall trend.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:16 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
My elementary/middle school didn't even have water fountains so the only liquid we would get was the juice/milk we brought at lunch. I don't remember feeling dehydrated. Now I'm always sipping from a water bottle though.
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:31 AM on August 31, 2023
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:31 AM on August 31, 2023
You might like this episode of the podcast "Decoder Ring" that uncovers the history of "hydration." It's really interesting! (But basically: We were fine then, we're fine now, this is mostly a way to sell Gatorade.)
posted by Charity Garfein at 10:37 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Charity Garfein at 10:37 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]
I was always thirsty as a kid so yeah, I was probably dehydrated. I drink more than just at meals and always carry a water bottle with me even in the house/to the park/in the car.
Also I hope no one is getting the idea that children are taking single use water bottles to school/camp, that’s not the case. Everyone carries reusable water bottles, they’re part of the required supplies list. Much easier to take a sip at your desk when thirsty than have to leave to go to the water fountain (which they use to refill their water bottles if necessary).
posted by lydhre at 10:43 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also I hope no one is getting the idea that children are taking single use water bottles to school/camp, that’s not the case. Everyone carries reusable water bottles, they’re part of the required supplies list. Much easier to take a sip at your desk when thirsty than have to leave to go to the water fountain (which they use to refill their water bottles if necessary).
posted by lydhre at 10:43 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Back in the '70s, I think many of us who brought our lunch in a lunchbox did carry a bottle of water (or other drink) to school. Every lunchbox came with a Thermos that had a little cup as the lid; mine, at the very least, was filled with tap water at home before departing for school with a baloney sandwich packed nearby. Some people used theirs for soup, but that's still hydrating. The water bottles certainly look different these days, and they weren't attached to a backpack with a carabiner to drink from in class, but it was in no way unheard of to have a bottle of water with you.
There were also way more water fountains everywhere in the 70s and 80s; every local park had an outdoor water fountain, every building had water fountains on every floor, and virtually every store had a refrigerated water fountain next to the public bathrooms. Water fountains no longer appear to be a priority, especially the outdoor ones, and that's a real pity. I was continually running off to get a drink from a water fountain as a kid, and I still prefer water fountains to having to carry my own bottle.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 11:04 AM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
There were also way more water fountains everywhere in the 70s and 80s; every local park had an outdoor water fountain, every building had water fountains on every floor, and virtually every store had a refrigerated water fountain next to the public bathrooms. Water fountains no longer appear to be a priority, especially the outdoor ones, and that's a real pity. I was continually running off to get a drink from a water fountain as a kid, and I still prefer water fountains to having to carry my own bottle.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 11:04 AM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]
When I got out of high school and was able to drink as much as I needed, I felt much better almost all of the time. Fewer headaches, less heat intolerance. I realized then that i'd been dehydrated a lot in school. This was back in the seventies and eighties, before everybody else started carrying water bottles.
posted by metonym at 11:19 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by metonym at 11:19 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am obese and pre-diabetic , and here one doesn't get medication for that. One of the first signs that I have to regulate my diet is that I get very thirsty. After two days of a healthier diet, the symptom disappears, but it makes me wonder if that is a factor: many more people are obese than when I was a kid, I certainly wasn't.
Back then I rarely drank water, and I nearly always gave my school milk away, because it was warm (room temp). I can't drink warm milk.
But I drank lots and lots of tea for breakfast and (well), tea. Then a tiny cup of milk for dinner.
On the other hand, I often joke about how there was no water at my wedding before I crawled out under the table to get some. The only beverage on the table was wine. The olden days were different, to be sure.
posted by mumimor at 12:20 PM on August 31, 2023
Back then I rarely drank water, and I nearly always gave my school milk away, because it was warm (room temp). I can't drink warm milk.
But I drank lots and lots of tea for breakfast and (well), tea. Then a tiny cup of milk for dinner.
On the other hand, I often joke about how there was no water at my wedding before I crawled out under the table to get some. The only beverage on the table was wine. The olden days were different, to be sure.
posted by mumimor at 12:20 PM on August 31, 2023
"The global reusable water bottle market was valued at USD 8.92 billion in 2022 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.4% from 2023 to 2030." It had never crossed anyone's mind to carry a water bottle in ordinary life until Nalgene bottles became a marketing success-slash-status symbol -- a process that took about two decades (they first marketed them widely in the 1970s; I personally first noticed saturation in the mid-1990s, although not coincidentally that's also when I started hanging out with American people who had or overtly aspired to upper-middle-classness). Now they have a "sustainable" line because plastic is a more difficult sell in 2020 than it was in 1970.
I EAT TAPAS has a point about lunchboxes, but I would never have dreamt of having mine out apart from at lunchtime (in New York State in the 1980s).
posted by obliquicity at 12:38 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I EAT TAPAS has a point about lunchboxes, but I would never have dreamt of having mine out apart from at lunchtime (in New York State in the 1980s).
posted by obliquicity at 12:38 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I grew up in a hot place in the US during the 80s. I do remember being encouraged to carry and drink water when we were outside during the summer. During summer camp, they would have an orange jug of water with little paper cups. During one particularly hot summer, I was at summer school and we were given disposable water bottles as we walked between buildings in the afternoon.
To sum up, we didn't constantly drink water like kids do now, but we were taught how to look out for heat stroke.
posted by tofu_crouton at 12:41 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
To sum up, we didn't constantly drink water like kids do now, but we were taught how to look out for heat stroke.
posted by tofu_crouton at 12:41 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Water fountains, like public schools, used to be a public priority. Public schools are no longer maintained and haven't been maintained for some time like they used to be, so the water fountains don't work or they work so poorly or are so gross that kids won't use them.
I went to a Title 1 school in the late 80's, early 90's that literally had entire condemned floors; our water fountains did not work or ran brown, so we had water bottles. We were also in Southern California with no air conditioning and children complaining about being too hot was an additional source of distraction that lead to the water bottles. They did limit when we could use them or have them out. This coincided with the "are you sure you're hydrated enough? are you sure???" kind of movement happening plus those sports bottles with the ridged straws out of the center of the lid were fashionable.
Water fountains were a thing that some communities specifically raised money for and included in buildings as part of the temperance movement. The theory was that adding clean drinking water to public spaces would cut down on drinking alcohol, to give people a choice that isn't beer. (You sometimes see them with a little plaque that reads "The Women's Christian Temperance Union proudly presents..." or something and older ones have an additional horse-watering station for your convenience.) It's not the worst idea. But like a lot of public goods, most people in power aren't interested in them any more.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:32 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I went to a Title 1 school in the late 80's, early 90's that literally had entire condemned floors; our water fountains did not work or ran brown, so we had water bottles. We were also in Southern California with no air conditioning and children complaining about being too hot was an additional source of distraction that lead to the water bottles. They did limit when we could use them or have them out. This coincided with the "are you sure you're hydrated enough? are you sure???" kind of movement happening plus those sports bottles with the ridged straws out of the center of the lid were fashionable.
Water fountains were a thing that some communities specifically raised money for and included in buildings as part of the temperance movement. The theory was that adding clean drinking water to public spaces would cut down on drinking alcohol, to give people a choice that isn't beer. (You sometimes see them with a little plaque that reads "The Women's Christian Temperance Union proudly presents..." or something and older ones have an additional horse-watering station for your convenience.) It's not the worst idea. But like a lot of public goods, most people in power aren't interested in them any more.
posted by blnkfrnk at 1:32 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Every lunchbox came with a Thermos that had a little cup as the lid; mine, at the very least, was filled with tap water at home before departing for school with a baloney sandwich packed nearby.
Those little kid thermoses held about a cup (as in one measuring cup - apparently 8 ounces) of water, with no ice. Drinking that would not get you 'hydrated' unless you are pretty young.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:52 PM on August 31, 2023
Those little kid thermoses held about a cup (as in one measuring cup - apparently 8 ounces) of water, with no ice. Drinking that would not get you 'hydrated' unless you are pretty young.
posted by The_Vegetables at 2:52 PM on August 31, 2023
If my brothers and friends and I were thirsty, it was adequately addressed by having a drink of water when we came home. I don’t remember running around looking for water at convenience stores (Doritos, yes). I remember thinking (and saying, more than once) that the idea of carrying bottled water around was ridiculous (living of course in a privileged country). I feel like if we were thirsty we managed it with the resources available at the time, such that no one I remember was talking about being parched, or behaving in such a way.
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:53 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:53 PM on August 31, 2023
I grew up in a small city which had so much natural fluoride in the water that stained teeth were very common among kids who were born and grew up there, and no one acted like they thought it was a big deal. I can remember staining in maybe a dozen kids I hung around with in primary grades.
I didn’t develop that, but it might have been because I drank so much soda pop and milk. At school I almost never drank from water fountains, but they seemed to be popular with the other kids.
posted by jamjam at 3:04 PM on August 31, 2023
I didn’t develop that, but it might have been because I drank so much soda pop and milk. At school I almost never drank from water fountains, but they seemed to be popular with the other kids.
posted by jamjam at 3:04 PM on August 31, 2023
I remember absolutely guzzling from water fountains as a kid, and overheating in gym class. So add that to your anecdata.
posted by bluedaisy at 3:32 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by bluedaisy at 3:32 PM on August 31, 2023
I grew up in a scorching hot part of Australia in the 80s. You were lucky if your classroom had a ceiling fan, let alone an airconditioner.
Water bottle culture was not A Thing. We all drank from the water fountain at break times - which were frequent, and in between you were mostly sitting in a chair. I don’t remember feeling dehydrated, or it being an issue in any way.
posted by Salamander at 7:15 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
Water bottle culture was not A Thing. We all drank from the water fountain at break times - which were frequent, and in between you were mostly sitting in a chair. I don’t remember feeling dehydrated, or it being an issue in any way.
posted by Salamander at 7:15 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
I feel that this current obsession with carrying a water bottle around and sucking mightily from its teat is just capitalism. Over the past several decades we have been taught or programmed to believe that it is normal to be consuming something - food, drink, goods, media - during every moment of our waking life.
To just sit in a park and smell the grass and look at the trees is...unproductive. And bad for capitalism.
So we walk around obediently with oversized water bottles, and takeaway coffees, and fast food and bags of chips and candy, and phones and etc etc etc.
posted by lulu68 at 7:29 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
To just sit in a park and smell the grass and look at the trees is...unproductive. And bad for capitalism.
So we walk around obediently with oversized water bottles, and takeaway coffees, and fast food and bags of chips and candy, and phones and etc etc etc.
posted by lulu68 at 7:29 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I mean, maybe it is all up to the individual’s body? I’m another human who has carried a water bottle around for most of my adult life, but when I was a kid I drank from the water fountains whenever I could. In fact, I couldn’t and still can’t drink milk, so I was allowed to have a little cup (like the teachers got!) and I would refill that cup several times during lunch and drink all of the water I had time for. Outside and during summer I drank from hoses and outside spigots all of the time, or I’d run in the house (not for long, because children were to be outside and not around the adults) and drink from the kitchen sink or fill a glass with tap water and drink it just as quickly as I could. In high school, my mother was nice enough to put a bottle of water AND a can of juice in my lunchbox, but the only time I could access it was at lunchtime. Relied on water fountains.
I often felt/feel miserable when I don’t hydrate; headaches and hot flushed skin and digestive issues. I sweat A LOT and am very active, in addition to living in a hot, humid area. When I was still firefighting, I usually drank at least a gallon of water a day; now I probably drink 64-96 oz a day, plus my Pepsi Zeros or some tea or juice. It’s nothing for me to down 32 oz. Hell, it’s almost midnight and I’m still drinking water right now.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:50 PM on August 31, 2023
I often felt/feel miserable when I don’t hydrate; headaches and hot flushed skin and digestive issues. I sweat A LOT and am very active, in addition to living in a hot, humid area. When I was still firefighting, I usually drank at least a gallon of water a day; now I probably drink 64-96 oz a day, plus my Pepsi Zeros or some tea or juice. It’s nothing for me to down 32 oz. Hell, it’s almost midnight and I’m still drinking water right now.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:50 PM on August 31, 2023
I think I was dehydrated my whole childhood. Nobody told me to drink water, so I didn’t know about it. Now I drink it constantly, and I’m better for it for a whole host of reasons but mostly for the proper functioning of my bowels.
Coincidentally, I just listened to the Dr. Jen Gunter podcast episode on this topic: transcript here.
I also happened across this Atlantic article yesterday: You’re Probably Drinking Enough Water (archive.org link). (Heh, the phrase “pee camp” appears.)
I’m not swayed. My pee has to be pale yellow to clear or my body’s not happy.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 10:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
Coincidentally, I just listened to the Dr. Jen Gunter podcast episode on this topic: transcript here.
I also happened across this Atlantic article yesterday: You’re Probably Drinking Enough Water (archive.org link). (Heh, the phrase “pee camp” appears.)
I’m not swayed. My pee has to be pale yellow to clear or my body’s not happy.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 10:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]
I often reflect on how in the world I managed my childhood and college years before people carried water with them everywhere. Nowadays, I have chapped lips by lunchtime if I forget to bring my water bottle with me. We just stopped by the water fountains (bubblers) frequently, and there were water fountains in every school corridor, by the bathrooms and the gym, as well as a few outdoor fountains. There was a carton of milk at lunchtime, but that was the only drink provided during the day. I remember having a coffee and a big glass of water before going to classes in college, and then maybe a can of coke at lunch, but the rest would just be catching a few mouthfuls of water here and there at water fountains throughout your day. Looking back, I can't imagine how that was sufficient, but apparently it was.
posted by amusebuche at 4:52 AM on September 1, 2023
posted by amusebuche at 4:52 AM on September 1, 2023
Water fountains in schools still exist - my kids are in school - I've seen them. Modern ones have a specific water bottle filler on them.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:58 AM on September 1, 2023
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:58 AM on September 1, 2023
I was at a show last night and there was a huge line for the water fountain, and no line for the bathroom. So I drank from a tap at the (clean, huge) bathroom sink, feeling both smart and self-conscious, with a touch of "young people today," and thought of this AskMe.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:02 AM on September 1, 2023
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:02 AM on September 1, 2023
I live in Ireland, although I grew up in the USA. I never missed water fountains at all after my family moved to Ireland, where they simply don’t exist.
Ok, our weather is much milder and wetter, but even so! Bottled water wasn’t a thing in Ireland when we moved here (mid 70s) and it didn’t bother us one bit.
posted by Samarium at 3:51 PM on September 2, 2023
Ok, our weather is much milder and wetter, but even so! Bottled water wasn’t a thing in Ireland when we moved here (mid 70s) and it didn’t bother us one bit.
posted by Samarium at 3:51 PM on September 2, 2023
Two of my coworkers were just talking yesterday about how they try to get their 64 ounces every day like you're supposed to. I did not chime in to point out that it's not really necessary to do that, but many, many people still believe that.
I occasionally lead walking tours; I have discerned that as a middle-aged person with a middle-aged bladder, I cannot be as profligate about drinking water as I sometimes feel like doing, lest I have to run off to find a washroom leaving my charges waiting in the street. My usual solution is to freeze a couple of 600 ml bottles of water and sip them over the course of the day as they melt: chilled water and not too much of it, dispensed at a slow and steady pace by the process of melting.
Last summer I did three ninety-minute tours in one day during a heat alert of around 40C (105 F or so). Over the course of the day I of course drained both bottles. When my last guests were departed, I gratefully refilled the bottles, necked them both, filled them again, quaffed those, had supper (with 600 ml of iced tea), headed to the train station, filled the bottles yet again and drank them on the train ride home. Once home, I liberated a pitcher of water from the refrigerator and guzzled that as well.
All told, I drank nine lites of water in two hours. If you prefer Imperial measurements, that’s a little north of 300 oz. of water, or about seventeen pounds.
I suspect consumption of seventeen pounds of anything in that time frame is a poor decision.
Still, I managed to rehydrate myself, and I got up exactly once that night, which is typical.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:27 PM on September 2, 2023
I occasionally lead walking tours; I have discerned that as a middle-aged person with a middle-aged bladder, I cannot be as profligate about drinking water as I sometimes feel like doing, lest I have to run off to find a washroom leaving my charges waiting in the street. My usual solution is to freeze a couple of 600 ml bottles of water and sip them over the course of the day as they melt: chilled water and not too much of it, dispensed at a slow and steady pace by the process of melting.
Last summer I did three ninety-minute tours in one day during a heat alert of around 40C (105 F or so). Over the course of the day I of course drained both bottles. When my last guests were departed, I gratefully refilled the bottles, necked them both, filled them again, quaffed those, had supper (with 600 ml of iced tea), headed to the train station, filled the bottles yet again and drank them on the train ride home. Once home, I liberated a pitcher of water from the refrigerator and guzzled that as well.
All told, I drank nine lites of water in two hours. If you prefer Imperial measurements, that’s a little north of 300 oz. of water, or about seventeen pounds.
I suspect consumption of seventeen pounds of anything in that time frame is a poor decision.
Still, I managed to rehydrate myself, and I got up exactly once that night, which is typical.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:27 PM on September 2, 2023
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posted by theatro at 7:20 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]