The Effect Of Smart Bottle Use On Drinking Behavior And Hydration Status Of Adolescent Athletes

Professional young athletes should adopt a suitable fluid consumption and hydration program. Previous studies have indicated high prevalence of poor drinking habits and inappropriate hydration status among athletes. PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of using smart bottle, which track daily water intake and encourage water consumption on fluid intake and hydration status among young elite athletes at the Academy for Sport Excellence at the Wingate Institute. METHODS: Thirty-seven adolescent athletes (18 females) age 15.8±1.1 years, engaged in volleyball, beach volleyball, and triathlon, participated in the study. Athletes were provided with a smart bottle integrated with smartphone application designed to measure and encourage drinking amounts. The study comprised a three-week duration: in the initial week athletes were instructed to consume fluids only from the provided smart bottle with no measurements or active reminding. In the second week drinking measurement were recorded, finally, in the third week both the smart bottles and the accompanying smartphone application were actively utilized, enable also active drinking reminding. Urine specific gravity (USG) before afternoon training session was measured once a week throughout the study period. RESULTS: In comparing the second and third weeks, average daily drinking amount increased significantly (p<0.001), from 1,288±771 to 2,476±1296 ml. Concurrently, the average USG, decreased significantly (p=0.01), from 1.019±0.01 to 1.012±0.01. Moderate negative correlation (r=-0.496; p<0.01) was demonstrated between drinking amount and USG. The calculated average heat load, from Meteorological Service measurements revealed no significant difference between the second week (24.9±1.9) and the third week (24.6±1.5), with both falling within "moderate heat load" category. CONCLUSIONS: In this study we demonstrated an improvement in water consumption correlated with an enhanced hydration status among adolescent athlete utilizing a smart bottle and integrated with a smartphone drinking application. While these findings suggest immediate benefits, further studies are essential to evaluate the long-term effects of active drinking bottle utilization among young athletes.