FRISCO, TEXAS — 70% of studies regarding dehydration state that teenagers aren’t sufficiently hydrated. Dehydration can negatively impact students’ concentrations, athletic performance, and their overall health. 

This raises the question: Why are high school students so dehydrated? To answer this, students and Dr. Joseph, one of the AP environmental science and AP biology teachers at Centennial High School, were interviewed. Dr. Joseph explained what dehydration truly is to help better understand the issue.

“We are a water-based life form,” he says. 

Without hydration, the human body’s systems fail to complete their necessary tasks. 

Many high school students are not meeting their daily hydration needs. One of the main reasons for this is the increasing preference for sodas and sugary drinks among teenagers.

Dr. Joseph shares, “The idea of sodas is coming in the way of actually drinking water.” He explains that students may view sodas as an alternative to water, but these drinks can not give you the benefits that water does.                         

“It is a sugar solution. It’s not a replacement,” he says. This preference for sugary drinks over water demonstrates the need for greater education about healthy hydration habits and the risks associated with substituting water for less beneficial options.

Students have varying ideas. 

Freshman Aayushi Biswas says that “We [high schoolers] are worrying about so many different things; we may forget about our basic needs.” Biswas explains how stress levels can have many influences on how hydrated or dehydrated people are.

10 students were interviewed on their daily water intake. The majority stated they believed they did not drink adequate amounts of water, and roughly half believed they were dehydrated.

Overall, the youth of our generation must maintain proper hydration. Taking the time in the morning to wash a bottle and fill it with water is worth the lifelong benefits hydration will give.