Is Lack Of Safe Drinking Water Linked To Obesity? Center-funded study cited in Forbes
Forbes, January 17, 2016
In light of President Barack Obama declaring a state of
emergency over the polluted water supply in Flint, Michigan,
should obesity be a concern in Flint? What does safe drinking
water have to do with obesity, you may ask? Efforts to improve
water supplies and to curb obesity have been historically
separate. However, might a shortage of good drinking water
be a factor in the rise of obesity?
Where safe drinking water is not readily available, alternative,
less healthy sources of hydration may fill the void. Studies in
the have found have found that perception of unsafe tap
water leads to increased consumption of sugar-sweetened
beverages. The Center for Poverty Research at the University
of California-Davis studied two low-income rural towns in
California’s Central Valley that had histories water
monitoring violations.
With obesity affecting over a third of the U.S. population,
public health advocates—including first lady Michelle
Obama—have called to “drink up” on water instead of sugary
beverages. In new work, supported by the Center for Poverty
Research, we find that low-quality drinking water is a potential
barrier to reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
in high-poverty rural immigrant communities.
