A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has found that encouraging drinking water in elementary schools can help prevent overweight and reduce the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages among children. The research used a randomized controlled trial, considered the most reliable method for evaluating health interventions.
The Water First program, which was tested in this study, combined changes to school environments—such as better access to free drinking water—with educational efforts promoting water as a healthier choice compared to sugary drinks. Researchers tracked 1,250 fourth-grade students over 15 months.
The results showed that the program’s benefits were consistent across various backgrounds and family situations. It was especially effective for children who already consumed more sugar-sweetened beverages at the start of the study; these students reduced their intake by an additional 5% for each extra sugary drink they had previously consumed daily, compared to those in control schools. The intervention also led to greater increases in water consumption among children who spoke only Spanish at home, indicating it may be particularly helpful for students facing cultural or structural challenges when making healthy beverage choices.
The authors concluded that Water First is a useful approach for promoting healthier drinking habits and preventing childhood overweight across different school communities.
The research team included Viviane Richard from Stanford University and the University of Geneva; Keejeong Ryu, Yadira Peralta, Andrea Pedroza-Tobias, and Valeria Ordonez from Stanford University; Laura A. Schmidt and Charles E. McCulloch from the University of California, San Francisco; Lorrene D. Ritchie from the Nutrition Policy Institute at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources; with senior authorship by Anisha I. Patel from Stanford University.
“This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers R01HL129288 and K24HL169841. Viviane Richard was also supported by grants from the University of Geneva and the Boninchi Foundation.”