Cognitive Assessments in Hydration Research Involving Children: Methods and Considerations

Abstract

The effects of optimal and insufficient hydration on human health have received increasing investigation in recent years. Specifically, water is an essential nutrient for human health, and the importance of hydration on cognition has continued to attract research interest over the last decade. Despite this focus, children remain a relatively understudied population relative to the effects of hydration on cognition. Of those studies investigating children, findings have been inconsistent, resulting from utilizing a wide variety of cognitive domains and cognitive assessments, as well as varied hydration protocols. Here, our aim is to create a primer for assessing cognition during hydration research in children. Specifically, we review the definition of cognition and the domains of which it is composed, how cognition has been measured in both field- and laboratory-based assessments, results from neuroimaging methods, and the relationship between hydration and academic achievement in children. Lastly, future research considerations are discussed.

Total water intake and its contributors in infants and young children

“…This finding, paired with reports of numerous deleterious health outcomes related to low water intake in children and adults, even in cases of mild dehydration, warrants further investigation. Young children considered particularly at risk of impaired cognitive function remain an understudied population relative to the known positive effects of hydration on cognition (51) . The long-term consequences of under-hydration in early life, particularly related to chronic kidney diseases following Brenner's hypothesis, have not been studied so far (52) .…”

Hydration and Nephrolithiasis in Pediatric Populations: Specificities and Current Recommendations

“…The benefits of improved hydration and acute water intake have been seen in attention, short term memory, delayed memory, visual search, and executive function, but not all studies have supported a relationship between hydration and cognition. The literature regarding how hydration affects cognition is still insufficient, and it would be beneficial to assess the effects of optimal and insufficient hydration on cognition and brain functions using a variety of laboratory and brain imaging techniques [ 52 ].…”