Effect of beverage flavor on body hydration in Hong Kong Chinese children exercising in a hot environment

• Published in: Pediatric exercise science 2014-05, Vol.26 (2), p.177-186
• Main Authors: Wong, Stephen Heung-Sang, Sun, Feng Hua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Beverages; Body Temperature Regulation; Child; Children & youth; Dehydration - etiology; Dehydration - prevention & control; Drinking Behavior; Exercise - physiology; Exercise Test; Female; Girls; Hong Kong; Hot Temperature - adverse effects; Humans; Hydration; Male; Sweating; Taste Perception; Temperature; Walking - physiology; Water-Electrolyte Balance
• ISSN: 0899-8493; 1543-2920
• DOI: 10.1123/pes.2013-0080

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of flavor on voluntary drinking and thermoregulatory responses in Chinese boys and girls exercising intermittently in a hot environment. Fourteen boys and girls (9 to 11 years old) performed four 3-hour intermittent exercise sessions (20-min walking sessions at 50% VO2peak followed by a 25-minute rest period) in a hot and humid environment (~30 °C ambient temperature and ~70% relative humidity). The participants consumed 1 of 4 beverages ad libitum in a randomized sequence by using a Latin-square principle: unflavored water (W), orange-flavored water (OF), lemon-flavored water (LF), and grape-flavored water (GF). No differences were observed in the total fluid intake (W vs. OF vs. LF vs. GF: Boys, 441 ± 114 vs. 493 ± 106 vs. 387 ± 83 vs. 568 ± 146 ml; Girls, 613 ± 131 vs. 923 ± 204 vs. 825 ± 157 vs. 790 ± 166 ml), urine and sweat output, and physiological perceptual variables among trials and between sexes. The results suggested that Chinese children can maintain body fluid balance while exercising moderately in a hot and humid environment by ad libitum drinking. The flavor of the beverages had no impact on the voluntary drinking and the state of hydration in the current study.