Examining Policies Providing Access to Free Water in Schools and the Health Impact of an Alternative to Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

Start Date: December 2015

ID #: 73248

Principal Investigator: Anisha Patel, MD, MSPH, MSHS

Organization: Regents of the University of California, San Francisco

Funding Round: Round 9

See more related research

Share

This award will support a natural experiment that will (1) examine the change in free drinking water access in Food Service Areas in California public schools from before to after Senate Bill 1413/Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act implementation; (2) assess changes in the proportion of schools with excellent water access and barriers and facilitators to providing excellent water access in a subsample of schools that have excellent and poor water access; and (3) investigate the addition of water language to district wellness policies over the past five years and if the strength/comprehensiveness of water language in the district wellness policy correlates with excellence in water access at the school.

Age Groups: Adolescents (grades 9 to 12), Elementary-age children (grades K to 5), Young adolescents (grades 6 to 8)

Focus Areas: Beverages, School & After School

State: California

Keywords: Food service, Nutrition standards, School meal programs, School wellness policies, Sugar-sweetened beverages, Water

Resource Type: Grant Summary

Race/Ethnicity: Multi-racial/ethnic

Related Research

September 2020

Drinking water access in California schools: Room for improvement following implementation of school water policies

This study aimed to investigate how access to free drinking water in California public schools changed after implementation of 2010 federal and state school water policies. Repeated cross-sectional surveys were conducted with administrators in a random sample of California public schools, stratified by school type and urban-centric geography, from 2010 to 2011 (n = 240) More

August 2026

Parents’ reactions to a Social Media Marketing Campaign Promoting Universal School Meals Among Elementary-Aged US Children: A Content Analysis

This study aimed to examine parents’ reactions (e.g., likes, comments) to a social media campaign encouraging participation in universal school meals (USM) programs, using a content analysis of parents’ reactions to static Facebook posts (images with captions) posted as part of a parent-directed campaign promoting USM participation. We calculated descriptive statistics of parents’ comments to More

July 2026

Expanding the Reach and Impact of School Meals

Millions of children rely on free school breakfasts and lunches daily. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal program that allows schools to serve meals to all students at no cost. But CEP’s traditional funding structure and changes in the eligibility threshold significantly affect whether schools join or can afford to stay in the More