Students drink more water when they have water dispensers readily available for use, according to a new study.
Researchers installed water dispensers at nine public New York City elementary schools and reviewed the students' water consumption before and after the installation. There was also a control group of 10 schools that never got the water dispensers, reported Health Day.
Most of the students (80 percent) noticed the new water dispensers in their school. Of that group, two-thirds used them and half of them drank more water than usual at lunchtime.
It's important to consume water to replace the water your body loses while performing every day functions such as going to the bathroom, sweating, or even exhaling, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC recommends carrying a water bottle with you to encourage water consumption.
After the researchers concluded that the additional dispensers were helping the children to drink more water, officials are now planning to install water dispensers in more than 1,000 New York City schools. More than 800 schools already had the water dispensers installed as of mid-2014.
The study was published in the American Journal of Health in December 2014.
