In the US, almost 4 out of 10 school kids are overweight.
After installing water jets resembling slushie machines in New York schools, researchers have observed something rather interesting. While studying the Body Mass Index of over 1,200 elementary school, the research team found that childhood obesity can be quelled by using water dispensers known as water jets.
The study engulfed all the schools in New York which added water jets inside their cafeterias or simply inside the school building. Almost 40% of schools have adopted this type of self-serving water dispenser while all public schools have banned sugary drink commercialization on their premises.
Basically, the study shows that when a child is presented with the option between free tap water and sugary drinks brought from home or bought from local grocery shops, he will often times choose water. This effectively leads to a healthier and slimmer subject. Of course, this depends on individual preference.
The BMI analysis following the installation of water jets in cafeterias showed that boys dropped by an average of 0.025 points while girls were marked at 0.022 points. In regards to childhood obesity, the odds of becoming overweight decreased by 0.9% in boys and 0.6% in girls.
True, at first glance, the addition of several water jets inside a school, with each installation costing $1000, impacts overweight incidence by a very small margin. One might even state that this study shows numbers so low that its result can be titled as correlation instead of cause-and-effect.
But the concept of having self-serving water fountains should not be dismissed entirely. Water is beneficial to the subject’s health nonetheless, even if weight is not that severely impacted. Changing the habit of having Pepsi or other sugary beverages with drinking water improves the general health of the child by a significant margin.
The plan of installing water jets in every school is significantly cheaper when compared to ample weight loss programs. But one has to take into account that the latter method may have a bigger impact in comparison to normal clear water dispensers. Of course, this differs from school to school depending on the school’s location and its students.
Although the idea that childhood obesity can be quelled by using water dispensers can be easily dismissed by stating how its impact on BMI is too small, having a clear drinking water supply in every school should be viewed as normality. But if you really want your child to lose weight, tweaking his diet and urging him to exercise regularly will have a much greater impact in comparison to simply supplying him with water while at school.
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