The Benefits of Drinking Water

One of the healthiest things you can do for your family is to commit to drinking good-old water: It's clean, it's pure, it helps kids' and adults' bodies thrive and feel alive—if you don't get enough water, you're going to have an energy crisis. Take a vow today to drastically cut back on your soda intake (even the diet kind!), give the kids less juice and get everyone in the family to drink more, more, more water. Here are some tips to get you started: Back away from the juice. Juice may have vitamins and minerals, but even the 100-percent fruit kind is a concentrated source of sugar. Getting kids hooked on juice can set them up for weight gain. Offer up water whenever possible. When you do serve juice, dilute it with 50 percent water. Put the "oh!" in H20: Add sliced oranges or floating berries to water. Or put out a bowl of lemon slices and have the kids make "lemonade." Or serve up naturally flavored seltzers. Buy your kids their own water bottles. Nalgene and SIGG make cute, non-toxic reusable ones, but you can find a variety of brands at all the stores now. Kids love them, and they're also kind to Mama Earth!

Check out all of Joy Bauer's recipes, ideas and healthy eating tips on ParentsConnect.com. Go!