People in the South East are not drinking enough!
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Research conducted at this year’s Heathfield Show — the South East’s leading one-day agricultural show — showed that visitors were putting their health at risk by not drinking enough water. On average, visitors’ water intake was found to be less than half of the amount suggested by health experts. Fewer than 12 per cent of visitors were shown to be drinking two litres daily, the intake recommended for full hydration. Heathfield Show visitors were surveyed by staff from Water, one of the largest independent UK watercooler companies. The Kent-based company interviewed 186 people about their daily drinking habits, with results entered immediately into hand-held PDA devices for speed and accuracy.
“We didn’t just ask people about their water intake,” said Water’s MD, Ben McGannan. “Consumption of coffee, tea and cola was also included.”
He explained that the point of the exercise was to illustrate how unaware most people are of the importance of hydration. Scientific studies internationally have shown that being dehydrated by as little as one per cent can have a detrimental effect on concentration, with long-term effects ranging from increased likelihood of gallstones to greater risk of various cancers.
“To be correctly hydrated, an adult should be drinking 10 cups of water every day,” said McGannan, “but we found that the average among the people we surveyed was only 4.64 cups daily. Even accounting for other drinks, people were still only consuming the equivalent of 6.72 cups daily, barely two-thirds of the recommended amount.”
He added that one of the key problems of dehydration is that people invariably blame its symptoms on other causes: “The average person suffering from light-headedness, clumsiness, irritability, headache, dim vision or lethargy will rarely recognise these as the classic effects of dehydration. ”
Water plans to continue surveying and reporting upon public hydration levels at other events during 2007.
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Notes to editor:
1. Almost everyone (best estimate is up to 75%) of the UK population is permanently dehydrated
2. Employers have a statutory duty of care for their employees — and anyone else on their premises, this includes making sure they are properly hydrated
3. Water is a Kent -based company, supplying water with nothing added or removed in coolers for work and home use
4. For media enquiries, please contact Jane Herbert at Pilot PR, jane@pilotpr.co.uk 020 8939 9031
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