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Water

Volume 458: debated on Tuesday 13 March 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will commission research into the optimum proportion of the daily recommended intake of fluids which should be taken as water; (124148)

(2) what assessment she has made of the extent to which the public follow the Government’s guidelines on how much water to drink; and if she will make a statement.

The Government advise that six to eight glasses (approximately 1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, should be consumed every day to prevent dehydration. This is based on physiological studies.

The 2000-01 National Diet and Nutrition Survey of adults aged 19-64 years showed that mean consumption of fluid in this age group was around 1.8 litres per day. This includes milk, fruit juice, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, tea, coffee and water (tap and bottled).