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4111.0 You Can Lead the Students to Water, but . . . the Current State of Drinking Water Availability and Intake in School and Child Care Settings
Tuesday, October 30, 2012: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provide low- or no-cost meals to children in schools and child care facilities. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 requires schools participating in the NSLP to provide access to free drinking water during mealtimes where meals are served to students. The HHFKA also requires child care facilities that receive CACFP funding to make free drinking water available throughout the day. By providing drinking water as an alternative to SSBs, schools and child care facilities can support children’s health. Drinking water instead of SSBs can reduce children’s caloric intake by 235 calories per day. Drinking sufficient amounts of water can also help to reduce dehydration, which may improve children’s cognitive performance. Despite these benefits, studies suggest that schools may fail to comply with federal mandates to provide free drinking water to children at mealtimes. In this forum, a panel of researchers, lawyers, and policy advocates will discuss emerging research on drinking water access in school and child care settings. We will highlight the real and perceived barriers to ensuring that free, potable drinking water is available in schools and child care and discuss the implications such challenges pose for shifting children’s beverage intake from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and bottled water to tap water. Also, we will identify policy- and program-based strategies to encourage children and adolescents to drink more tap water (e.g., policy guidance, case studies of best practices and funding sources). Increasing access to safe, palatable drinking water in schools and child care is an issue that transects multiple fields, including education, public health, and marketing. This session will provide scientific, legal and advocacy perspectives on how to improve access to free drinking water and encourage water intake among children in schools and child care.
Session Objectives: 1. Discuss the benefits of drinking water instead of high-calorie, non-nutritive beverages; 2. Describe the current state of free drinking water access in school and child care facilities, including legislation that requires water provision in these settings; 3. Identify common obstacles to free drinking water access and intake in schools and child care; and 4. Identify tangible ideas for increasing free water access and consumption among children and adolescents in school and child care settings.
Anisha Patel, MD, MSPH
Karla Hampton, JD
Ellen Braff-Guajardo, JD, MEd
Introductory Remarks Ms. Hampton will introduce the presentation and provide a framework for the session. She will also facilitate the discussion based on her experience in facilitating meetings and expertise in using law and policy to advocate for increased water access in schools and child care settings. Learning Objective: Describe one type of drinking water provision schools can use to provide free, easily accessible, and appealing water to students.
Discussion Ms. Braff-Guajardo will respond to the presentation as a discussant based on her expertise and experience in successfully advocating for the passage and implementation of legislation requiring water to be available in school food service areas and licensed childcare settings. Learning objective: Describe one strategy to address concerns that free tap water is not as appealing to students as vended single-use bottles of water.
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information.
Organized by: Food and Nutrition
CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)
See more of: Food and Nutrition