It was an insightful and thought-provoking afternoon, attended by some of the leading experts in the field of hydration and nutrition. The presentations and their speakers prompted some good discussions around some of the key issues that the NHC is focusing on, such as hydration and exercise and hydration for children.
NHC general manager Kinvara Carey and coordinator Chloe Bilgorri began the afternoon by discussing some of the organisation’s work this year, including a look at the Science Panel meetings, which resulted in some useful learnings and messaging on ‘neo-phobia’ (food and drink aversions in children), and urology issues.
There was also a presentation by Pegasus PR, which has been engaging national and consumer media in some of the key topics with great success. This year alone, there have been over 50 meetings with journalists to discuss NHC activity, and over 130 pieces of positive press coverage on healthy hydration.
Pegasus deputy MD Simon Hackett delivered a presentation entitled, ‘Social media: What next for brands?’.
Professor Paul Gately, Leeds Metropolitan University, discussed the hydration and exercise activity that he has been working on with the NHC, and highlighted the need for more research to be conducted into the positive effects that drinking water can have for people participating in exercise. He touched on the role that sports drinks have to play, and there was a lively Q&A that looked at why consumers might be confused about what they should be drinking during exercise.
Dr Hilary Jones, best known for his role on ITV’s Daybreak, commented on the great work that the schoolchildren of St James’ School, Bolton, have been carrying out since he visited them last year to report on the NHC’s hydration survey.
Over the last year, Year 10 children have been enthusiastically brainstorming ideas to try to encourage the whole school to drink more water. Two ideas were given approval. The first was for all children to be allowed bottles of water on their desks. The second idea was to design and produce St James’ School water bottles, which will be given to all new Year 7 pupils, and sold to the rest of the school for 75p.
Dr Caroline Edmonds presented her new research on the positive role that water has on cognition for children. During the Q&A, it was discussed that the provision of water in some schools can be problematic, and that teachers often don’t want to encourage water consumption as this can often lead to a disrupted classroom, with toilet visits and water spillages.
The following day, the research attracted press coverage in the Daily Mirror, as well as detailed reports featuring Dr Caroline Edmonds on 13 regional radio programmes.
Bridget Benelam and Helena Gibson-Moore of the British Nutrition Foundation gave a presentation on the work they conducted with the NHC to create the Children’s Healthy Hydration glass.
Sally Russell revealed how the Netmums website was founded, and charted its growth to become the biggest online social platform for mums. NHC has announced that it will be partnering with Netmums next year to deliver advice and guidance for mums on key hydration topics, with the help of its Scientific Panel and experts.
The meeting was concluded by NHC non-executive chairman, Bill Dick, who took up the role following his retirement from a long career in the food and beverage sectors as both a senior executive and consultant.
Source: Natural Hydration Council
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