ORS Over Sweet Drinks For Dehydration: Emphasize Its Importance For Children With Summer Diarrhea
Because of the scorching heat, India faces a serious challenge in dealing with dehydration, especially among children, with diarrhea being the third leading cause of death. Recent NFHS-5 data show that despite being an essential medication, only 60.6% of children with diarrhea receive oral rehydration salts (ORS), highlighting the need for awareness and proper use.
Diarrhea causes rapid fluid loss, electrolyte imbalance, and dehydration. ORS is a simple yet highly effective way to replace these lost fluids and electrolytes, preventing complications and helping speed recovery, especially in young children. It is important to understand that ORS is safe and effective. Using the wrong salt or sugar mixture can be harmful. A proper balance of water and electrolytes is essential to properly manage dehydration. The wrong home remedies or sugary drinks can upset the balance. This can cause serious health problems, massive water loss or in severe cases death.
A public awareness campaign highlights the importance of WHO-approved ORS solutions to ensure proper hydration during summer. Prolite ORS, Dr. Popular brands like Morpen ORS or ORS Valyte ORS meet these criteria and offer a safe and effective way to fight dehydration.
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Dr. Mohsin Wali, Padma Shri, Consultant Physician, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, highlights the need to choose an appropriate ORS as the temperature rises, "Choosing ORS to effectively manage diarrhea and water loss is important to distinguish between ORS and commercially available sweetened drinks. Although these drinks provide some electrolytes and fluids, they provide rapid and effective hydration , contain adequate glucose-sodium for potassium imbalances, but they do not address the root problem of dehydration.Approved ORS are important for maintaining overall health and speeding recovery, especially in vulnerable populations such as children.
It is important to make informed choices. When dealing with dehydration, choose WHO-approved ORS solutions over other sugary drinks that are not suitable for treating dehydration. By understanding the benefits of ORS and its proper use, we can empower individuals and families to become their own health heroes, especially during summer. This knowledge will help save the lives of thousands of children each year.
