A professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University led a study published last week that found having more water dispensers in schools is associated with weight loss.

The study, which gained national attention after it was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, involved installing water jet machines in 1,227 New York City public elementary and middle schools. Data was collected from 2008 to 2013, and required over 1 million elementary and middle school students.

More than 480 water jet machines, also known as single-filling water dispensers, were installed in the cafeterias of roughly two-thirds of New York City public elementary and middle schools for the study.

In tracking students’ heights and weights to calculate body mass index, researchers found that the average overweight or obese child had a lower BMI compared with kids in schools without water-jet dispensers. The average student lost about five pounds, the study found.

“I think that what’s exciting is it suggests a relatively inexpensive intervention — more water — can have a positive effect on obesity and child weight,” said Amy Ellen Schwartz, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Professor of Public Affairs in the Maxwell School who led the team of researchers from New York University. “It didn’t cost a lot of money and obesity declined, so that feels like a big win.”

As obesity rates in the United States continue to climb, researchers chose to examine the possible link between improved water access and obesity reduction, according to the study. In 2012, more than one-third of children and adolescents living in the U.S. were considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At SU, there are 52 water-jet dispensers around campus, said Melissa Cadwell, the sustainability division’s marketing manager. Water-jet dispensers supply water via a fast-dispensing method, in which a person places a water bottle near a sensor that then releases a stream of water.

Cadwell said that Students of Sustainability approached her division in 2011 about installing these dispensers, and since then, the goal has been to place the jet dispensers in every building on campus, including residence halls.

“Students of Sustainability requested more water bottle-filling stations on campus because at the time all we had was water fountains that you drink out of,” Cadwell said. “It was very difficult to fill your water bottle, and as every student who lives on campus is given a free water bottle, it made sense that there were dispensers on campus for them to fill those water bottles.”

When the club pushed for the installation of the dispensers on campus, the goal was to help reduce the amount of plastic waste on campus, not obesity, said Maria Dombrov, the president of Students of Sustainability and a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

And while there’s no association between the relatively new dispensers and obesity among SU students, this study could precede major breakthroughs in combatting childhood obesity, said Dombrov.

“We often are looking for the silver bullet that’s going to solve the problem,” Schwartz said. “We think maybe this suggests there isn’t a silver bullet and, instead, what we’re going to have to look for is a bunch of little things.”

Schwartz said that many small interventions together could perhaps be what is required to reduced childhood obesity and improve children’s health.

“If we had a bunch of (interventions), we could potentially make a really big dent eventually,” she added.“And this is a step in that direction.”

Published on January 26, 2016 at 11:41 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21