drinking water in schools: the role of schools in health

8/13/2019 Drinking Water in Schools: The Role of Schools in Health

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Michelle Tang


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Promote physical

activity and healthy

eating, reduce the rate

of overweight andobesity among children

and teenagers, and

improve academic

achievement Encourage and

reinforce healthy dietary

behaviors in all venues

accessible to students

Source: U.S. Department of Health and HumanServices. The Surgeon Generals Vision for a

Healthy and Fit Nation.Rockville, MD: U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services, Office

of the Surgeon General, January 2010.


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Did your school have a lotof water fountains?

What do you remember

drinking when you were inelementary school?

Were there any issues with

the water at your school orin your community?

Did you drink from thefountains? If so, how was

it?


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Access

Barriers

Contamination


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Federal law now requires

schools participating in

federal meal programs,

such as the National

School Lunch Programo Make water available

during mealtimes at nocost

Some states are enacting

broader requirements


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1999, California: inadequate ratio of water fountains topeople on school campuses throughout the state

Over 40% of school districts reporting they had no access tofree drinking water during school meals

Source: Survey, CA Superintendent of Instruction; Survey, CA Dept of Education


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Water jets that can fill up reusable bottles and cups in

the cafeteria

Water fountain down the hallway from the cafeteria


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A majority of U.S. schools were built before 1969

In need of significant infrastructure repairs for old

plumbing or fixtures

Cash-strapped school districts

Source: Preventing Chronic Disease (2010)

Patel, Bogart, and Uyeda


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Students tend to avoid

water fountains that are

broken or dirty, orproduce water that tastesbad.

Where drinking fountainsare still usable, there may

be few, situated in

inconvenient locations.

Source: Preventing Chronic Disease (2010)Patel, Bogart, and Uyeda


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Potentially expensive

o Create or modernize the

infrastructure to serve chilled and

filtered water in cafeteriaso Install or maintain water jets,

hydration stations, and water

fountains

Relatively inexpensiveo Offering pitchers of cold tap water

and a stack of paper cups


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Boulder, COo District spends 3 per disposable waxed paper

cup

How much would it cost perschool year to provide apaper cup per day for a

district of 200,000 students?

$0.03 * 200,000 * 180 =$1,080,000

(cost per cup x # of students x # of school days)


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1 water fountain for every 150

students?

Thats a long line!


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1970s until now:Americans are consuming 278more calories today

43% of these calories coming from SSBs

235 fewer excess caloriesper day being consumed by children

and adolescents


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Saying we need to add sugar and

flavoring to milk to get kids to drink

it is like saying we need to feed

kids apple pie if they dont like

apples.

Chef Ann Cooper

adding sugar to it is necessary to

ensure adequate calcium intake

From Chocolate Milk in Schools:

Should It Be Banned?

Huffington Post 4/20/11


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About a third of children and adolescents in the

United States are overweight or obese

Rising obesity rates linked to consumption of soda

and other sugar-sweetened beverageso Significantly higher in calories, sugar, and

sodium

o

Usually contains artificial colors and flavorso 11 grams (nearly three teaspoons) of added

sugar in one cup of flavored milk

Source:American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2006)Malik, Schulze, and Hu


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62%Adolescents ages 12 to 17

41%Children ages 2 to 11

Drinking at least onesoda or sugar-

sweetened beverage

per day


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Focus on tap watermore regulated and tested

Concernsboth real and perceivedabout thequality and safety of local tap water supplies

Los Angeles, New York City, and the District ofColumbia, and Seattle:o Concerns with lead contamination


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unsafe tap water,

public health concern

Fertilizer and pesticide

runoff from irrigated fields

along with animal waste fromnearby dairy farms percolate

down into the groundwater,

tainting their wells.


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Access:

o Bad tasting water, broken, disrepair, not enough fountains in

general

o Restore deteriorating infrastructure: work with local and state

government to cover the costs of repairs

Barriers:

o Sugar-sweetened beverages Increasing obesity rates

Contamination:o Requirement for local water agencies, county state public

health departments to annually inform schools about water

quality


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