Water is perhaps the only consumable that never gets the tag, ‘the unhealthy side of…’ Of course, as long as it is clean and safe to drink. From hydrating the body to nourishing the brain and boosting its cognitive functions, water is the one element seemingly indispensable to school learners. Yet, ironically, it is almost entirely overlooked in schools — as much as it is in homes.

School-going children are expected to respond to their own thirst and find drinking water. Little or nothing at all is done to promote drinking adequate water in schools, according to a mini-survey by Education Times. 

The government heavily invests in not only the provision but also the promotion of meals at school. However, whereas a nutritionist will say a meal is incomplete without drinking water, schools countrywide lack this salient component of the meal. 

The school feeding programme for learners that seeks to enhance the quality of education in the country requires that besides the existing interventions such as One Cup of Milk Per Child — twice a week — schools should provide daily meals. It also recommends an increase in micronutrients through enrichment of food value chains to cater for all nutritional needs of students. However, there is no mention of water in it.

The state minister for education, Mathias Harebamungu, says the ministry directed all schools to provide water to students for purposes of hygiene and drinking. He, however, adds that they are updating their school regulations booklet in which the importance of water will be highlighted even further. 

But with legislation, schools can be compelled to provide water as a component of meals.

For instance, in September 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a Bill that directed all schools to provide free, fresh drinking water during meal times in the food service areas. In December, Congress enacted the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, compelling all schools participating in students’ lunch programme to provide free of charge, as nutritionally appropriate, potable water for consumption in the place where meals are served during meal service. 

At schools…

In most schools across the country, students spend more than six hours thirsty. Only a ‘privileged’ few carry drinking water from home — privileged because for many, the cost of packing bottles or buying water from canteens is prohibitive. Besides, ignorance of the importance of drinking water pervades many a family. For the majority of students, water sources in schools quenches the thirst, regardless of how safe it is.

Emmanuel Dusabe, a Senior Six student of GS Saint Nicolas Nyamasheke in the western district of Nyamasheke, said he takes a glass of water in the morning before heading to school, an hour’s distance from home.

Dusabe said his parents always insist he drinks water in the mornings to aid digestion and heartbeat. At school, the only source of water is a borehole.

"My parents always encourage me to drink water regularly not only when I feel thirsty but also all the time so my body and brain get energy,” Dusabe said.

Evariste Ruhotorambuga, the head teacher of Ecole Secondaire de Nemba in Gakenke District, Northern Province, admitted the school does not take efforts to practically encourage adequate safe water consumption. 

"We do not provide water to the students because we hope it is in their responsibilities. They know where they get it from; we have water pumps all over the school, they use them as they need,” he said.

During visits to several schools across the country by this paper, several scenarios as at Ecole Secondaire de Nemba welcomed this paper. Head teachers also said boiling drinking water for students was way to uneconomical for their budget. 

Some schools only do so for their staff.

Misconception

In other instances during visits to schools, teachers claimed drinking water on empty stomach was not healthy — justifying why they would not encourage students to do so.

Simon, a senior teacher in a 12-Year Basic Education school in Western Province, for instance, said it was "useless to encourage students to drink water while they were at school because they spend most of the day on empty-stomach.” 

"When they drink water during break time on empty stomachs, they return to class dozing,” the teacher whom we can only identify by his first name said.

Théodomir Mugabonake, a resident of Nyamata Sector, Bugesera District in Eastern Province, said if children are to drink adequate water, including at school, the drive should start at home. 

Mugabonake said parents should teach their children to drink water at all times and even encourage them to carry some to school.

He says his children are the ones who remind them to drink water.

Drinking water and science

Water makes up to 80 per cent of the brain matter. When we are thirsty, mental performance deteriorates by 10 per cent, according to experts.

Doctors say water keeps the brain from overheating, which can cause cognitive decline and even damage. Yet for children, the situation is tricky because when they are thirsty, they often choose sweetened drinks instead of water. By the time thirst is felt, there may be a loss of body weight up to 2 per cent from water loss. 

Dehydration can lead to fatigue, dizziness, poor concentration and reduced cognitive abilities. 

Dr Joseph Nkurunziza, co-founder of Health Development Initiative, says children tend to overheat faster than adults, making good hydration essential. This is especially worth noting when one factors in the play time such as breaks and lunch hours when most students do a lot of playing that drains their body of water.

"Children in classrooms can be given structured water breaks or encouragement to keep a water bottle at their desks to sip throughout the day to achieve the recommended intake of eight glasses a day, with four consumed during the school day,” Dr Nkurunziza says.

Water, or its lack (dehydration), can influence cognition. Mild levels of dehydration can produce disruptions in mood and cognitive functioning.

In a 2006 publication titled, "Nutrition in Clinical Care: Hydration and Cognitive Function in Children,” Doctors Kristen E. D’Anci (professor of psychology at Salem State University, US), Florence Constant (head of water, hydration and health programme at Nestle Waters, France), and Irwin H. Rosenberg (specialist in internal medicine at New England Hospital, Boston, US) say cognitive function can be clustered into several main domains: memory functions, attention functions, perceptual functions, executive functions, psychomotor functions, and language skills. 

Each of the cognitive domains can be further divided in a number of more specified functions. 

Memory functions, for example, include short-term and long-term memory encoding, storage and retrieval functions, and working memory. Further differentiation is made with regard to the type of information that is processed; for example, auditory, visual, verbal, spatial, abstract, or procedures. 

Attention can be subdivided in selective, divided, and sustained attention functions, whereas executive functions encompass more complex processes such as reasoning, planning, concept formation, evaluation, and strategic thinking.

The researches said mild dehydration produces alterations in a number of important aspects of cognitive function such as concentration, alertness, and short-term memory in young adults 18 to 25 years of age 23-27 and in the oldest adults 50 to 82 years of age.

"In some studies, mild dehydration produced modest decrements in cognitive performance or even mild enhancement. In young adults, significantly higher mood scores for anger, confusion, and fatigue were seen under conditions of mild dehydration,” the researchers said.

Dr Emile Rwamasirabo, a neurosurgeon and director of King Faisal Hospital Rwanda, said students not drinking enough water can affect a student’s abilities to perform to full potential.

He said water helps to increase concentration, equilibrium, good energy levels and an ability to sustain activity because they spend much time playing.

"If they do not drink water, they feel weak and tend to have headache,” Dr Rwamasibo said.

The neurosurgeon advised that sugary liquids such as soda, fruits, coffee, or even milk, cannot be substitute for water, despite many a children’s preference for them owing to the taste. 

He recommended drinking between1.5 to 3 litres of water per day depending on climate and individual physiology. This would facilitate the functioning of the neurons, which stores water in vacuoles to maintain the tone of membranes for normal neurotransmission.

Dr Apollo Odu, a neurologist at Central University Teaching Hospital of Butare, urged more schools to promote drinking water as a culture.

"Providing access to drinking water gives students a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages. It helps reduce energy intake if substituted for sugar and clears the teeth of plaques,” Dr Odu said.

Water also enhances circulation and aids in removing wastes.

Research shows that consuming water in place of sugar-sweetened beverages and juice can help combat obesity, since such beverage substitutions result in lowered caloric intake. 

At least 75 per cent of Rwandans have access to clean water, according to the World Health Organisation. The country has been pushing to ensure 100 per cent target by 2017.

Clean and safe to drink

Although encouraging students to drink adequate water might be easy, it is a bit different when it comes to safe drinking water. Chlorinated tap water is not safe for drinking without boiling, yet schools cannot afford to boil drinking water.

Other alternatives such as boreholes and springs across the country remain questionable in terms of sustained safety as direct sources of drinking water. This leaves water purifiers as the cheapest alternative for the majority.

Water purifiers such as Sur’Eau are available across the country at a fee.

Manasseh Gihana, the executive director of Society for Family Health (SFH), the nonprofit health marketers, said they have not yet started distributing their products to schools as they have been targeting communities. 

"In the near future, we are going to incorporate schools in our programmes. I can encourage schools because we are economically viable,” Gihana said. 

Therefore, school heads should endeavour to provide boiled water to the students if they want the best out of  them.