Water machines available in schools can help kids lose weight

Water has also been shown to reduce hunger, meaning students who drink from the water jet may simply be eating less.
If students want weight off their shoulders, they should look no further than the water dispenser in the cafeteria.

A study by NYU Langone Medical Center released Tuesday found a statistically significant reduction in the obesity levels of New York City students who attend 1,127 public schools with free water available in lunch rooms.

The study of over 1 million kindergarten through 8th grade students found that schools with so-called water jets — which resemble Slushee machines — saw a reduction in obesity among boys of nearly 1% and .6% in girls after the dispensers were installed.

NYU
Studies have found that nearly 40% of New York City students are overweight.
That seemingly small number means big results of middle schoolers.

The machines cost $1,000 each.

“It’s a very low-cost, easy to implement intervention that actually had a real effect,” said Brian Elbel, an NYU Langone professor in the Department of Population Health and one of the researchers who conducted the study.

Studies have found that nearly 40% of New York City students are overweight.

The authors of the study concluded that easy access to water during lunch may lead kids to substitute it for less-healthy beverages like chocolate milk, juice and soda.

Water has also been shown to reduce hunger, meaning students who drink from the water jet may simply be eating less.

“It does appear that kids were interested in them and excited about them,” Elbel said of the machines, which aerate the water prior to dispensing it.

“Something very straightforward and easy had a small but meaningful effect.”