Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

Objectives. We evaluated the hydration status of US children and adolescents. 
  
 Methods. The sample included 4134 participants aged 6 to 19 years in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2009 to 2012. We calculated mean urine osmolality and the proportion with inadequate hydration (urine osmolality > 800 mOsm/kg). We calculated multivariable regression models to estimate the associations between demographic factors, beverage intake, and hydration status. 
  
 Results. The prevalence of inadequate hydration was 54.5%. Significantly higher urine osmolality was observed among boys (+92.0 mOsm/kg; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 69.5, 114.6), non-Hispanic Blacks (+67.6 mOsm/kg; 95% CI = 31.5, 103.6), and younger children (+28.5 mOsm/kg; 95% CI = 8.1, 48.9) compared with girls, Whites, and older children, respectively. Boys (OR = 1.76; 95% CI = 1.49, 2.07) and non-Hispanic Blacks (odds ratio [OR] = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.74) were also at significantly higher risk for inadequate hydration. An 8-fluid-ounce daily increase in water intake was associated with a significantly lower risk of inadequate hydration (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.93, 0.98). 
  
 Conclusions. Future research should explore drivers of gender and racial/ethnic disparities and solutions for improving hydration status. ||||| THURSDAY, June 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Many American children and teens aren't consuming enough liquids -- especially water -- and that lack of hydration could affect their physical and mental health, a new study suggests. The findings "highlight a potential health issue that has not been given a whole lot of attention in the past," study author Erica Kenney, a postdoctoral research fellow in social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a Harvard news release. "Even though for most of these kids this is not an immediate, dramatic health threat, this is an issue that could really be reducing quality of life and well-being for many, many children and youth," she added. One expert in child health agreed. 
  
 "Children -- due to their slower acclimation to heat and greater surface area than adults -- can be more susceptible to dehydration than adults," said Nancy Copperman, who directs public health initiatives at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Great Neck, N.Y. 
  
 That, "coupled with an already impaired hydration status, can have physiological problems such as [neurological] issues, increased demands on their kidneys and heat stroke," she explained. 
  
 In the study, Harvard University researchers looked at data from more than 4,000 children and teens, aged 6 to 19, who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2009 and 2012. 
  
 About half of the children and teens weren't getting enough hydration. The likelihood of inadequate hydration was 76 percent higher in boys than girls, and 34 percent higher in blacks than whites, the researchers said. 
  
 Nearly one-quarter of the study participants said they drank no plain water at all, according to the study published online June 11 in the American Journal of Public Health. 
  
 Another expert wasn't surprised by the findings. 
  
 "Lack of water ingestion is a significant issue for America's children, with multiple causes," said Dr. Ron Marino, associate chair of pediatrics at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y. 
  
 "During the school day, access to water may be limited, and many children may even avoid consuming water because they prefer not to use the bathrooms at school," he said. "This may stem from lack of privacy, embarrassment, or even bullying or other risks associated with being in the bathroom," he suggested. 
  
 "The food industry is also a contributor as they are selling juices, sports drinks and water," Marino added. "The good old water fountain or a refillable water bottle may lack appeal to trend-conscious kids." 
  
 The Harvard researchers said that proper hydration is crucial for physical processes such as circulation, metabolism, temperature regulation and water removal. Excessive dehydration can cause serious problems, they said, but even mild dehydration can cause headaches, irritability, poor circulation, reduced physical performance, and poorer mental functioning. 
  
 However, "the good news is that this is a public health problem with a simple solution," study senior author Steven Gortmaker, a professor of the practice of health sociology, said in the news release. 
  
 "If we can focus on helping children drink more water -- a low-cost, no-calorie beverage -- we can improve teir hydration status, which may allow many children to feel better throughout the day and do better in school," he said. 
  
 Copperman agreed. "The study indicated that by increasing water intake by 1 cup or 8 ounces per day, hydration was improved," she said. 
  
 She also offered up some tips for parents to help boost their child's water intake: 
  
 "Keep water cold. Add frozen water bottles to a child's lunch pack," she said. The bottles will keep their lunch cold and thaw throughout the day so they are cool to drink. Cold water tastes better to children than room temperature. 
  
 "Don't rely on a child's thirst. Thirst is not a good indicator of hydration," Copperman said. Children need to have access to water throughout the day. 
  
 "Try infusing water with fruit (such as oranges), vegetables (such as cucumbers), or herbs (such as mint) to give the water a flavor without adding extra sugars," she advised. 
  
 More information 
  
 The U.S. National Institutes of Health explains the importance of drinking enough water. ||||| Your kid may not be getting enough water 
  
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 —More than half of all U.S. kids are not getting enough hydration — probably because they're not drinking enough water, researchers reported Thursday. 
  
 Even mild dehydration can cause headaches, irritability, poorer physical performance, and can hurt learning, and the team found thousands of children and teens had clear evidence of dehydration. 
  
 Black children and boys were at higher risk than whites and girls, Erica Kenney and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health found. 
  
 "Even though for most of these kids this is not an immediate, dramatic health threat, this is an issue that could really be reducing quality of life and well-being for many, many children and youth," Kenney said in a statement. 
  
 Writing in the American Journal of Public Health, Kenney and colleagues said they looked at data from a national survey of 4,000 kids aged 6 to 19. Everyone gave a urine sample as part of the survey. 
  
 The researchers looked at urine osmolality, a measure of how concentrated the urine is. 
  
 Just over half of the children and adolescents weren't getting enough hydration. How could that be? Nearly a quarter of the kids in the study said they never drank plain water. 
  
 "The good news is that this is a public health problem with a simple solution," Steven Gortmaker, a professor of health sociology at Harvard, said. "If we can focus on helping children drink more water — a low-cost, no-calorie beverage — we can improve their hydration status, which may allow many children to feel better throughout the day and do better in school." 
  
 There's an easy way to tell if you're getting enough fluid — just keep an eye on your own pee. If it's a light yellow color, you're getting enough water. The darker it is, the more likely you are to be dehydrated. |||||

If you have a child between the ages of 6 and 19, there's a good chance he or she is dehydrated. In a new study, Harvard scientists analyzed data on more than 4,000 students in that age range collected via the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey—among many other things, it includes urine tests that reveal hydration. The researchers found that 54.5% of those kids were "inadequately" hydrated, with boys being more at risk than girls. As lead researcher Erica Kenney notes to NPR, "This doesn't mean we're saying kids are dropping like flies or ... need to go to the hospital or anything like that." But even slight dehydration can alter one's mood, energy level, and maybe even his or her ability to learn, she says. Headaches and irritability can also occur, Today reports, and one expert tells HealthDay News that kids are more susceptible to dehydration than adults. But what Kenney found even more "astounding" was that about 25% of the kids apparently don't drink any water, "and even among the kids who were drinking water—they weren't drinking very much of it." The Institute of Medicine recommends kids and teens drink anywhere from 7 to 14 cups of water per day, depending on their gender, age, and size, and "that's total water," meaning other beverages and foods (think a juicy orange) count, per Kenney. Kenney sees an obstacle in getting kids to drink more: our dated schools, which are sometimes worried about older plumbing and lead. And, a pediatrician notes, some kids "even avoid consuming water because they prefer not to use the bathrooms at school." (Click for a recent big change to our water.)