The federal Child and Adult Care Food Program provides reimbursements for nutritious meals and snacks to children enrolled in participating child care sites. Christina Hecht, senior policy advisor for the Nutrition Policy Institute and coordinator of the National Drinking Water Alliance, presented on the importance of the CACFP drinking water requirements and best practices for offering clean and safe drinking water in child care in an interactive session at the thirty-seventh National Child Nutrition Conference in San Diego, CA. Hecht presented her session, titled “A Fresh Take on Water in CACFP” on April 11, 2023.
The National Drinking Water Alliance, coordinated by the Nutrition Policy Institute, has summarized its progress in the drinking water space from 2021 and 2022. The summary includes policy highlights such as providing drinking water safety recommendations to the White House and the allocation of $55 billion for water in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. NDWA also advocated for actions for robust implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act provisions that mandate safe drinking water access in schools and childcare facilities and commented on proposed revisions to the Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule with recommendations from the latest science on tap-water lead testing. NDWA members developed resources including Increase Healthy Beverage Consumption and Reduce Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: A Community Roadmap for Native communities. The NDWA is a network of organizations and individuals working to ensure that all children in the US can drink safe water in the places where they live, learn and play.
- Author: Katherine Lanca
- Editor: Danielle L. Lee
- Editor: Christina A Hecht
- Editor: Lorrene Ritchie
A new study from the Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of California's Nutrition Policy Institute found that in 2016-2018, many students in the US attended public schools that did not have a drinking water lead-testing program in place. Of the seven states in this study, only one was found to require schools to test for lead, though all seven states included some level of guidance on what to do when lead concentrations are too high. Drinking water is important for proper hydration and oral health and can serve as a substitute for sugary drinks. Unsafe drinking water can lead to a variety of negative impacts on health. Moreover, if students and families are not assured that water has been tested and found safe, they may avoid drinking it. Improving federal guidance, educating school staff, and increasing technical and financial support for more widespread testing programs can reduce students' lead exposure. The study was published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers include Angie Cradock, Jessica Barrett, Chasmine Flax, and Mary Kathryn Poole from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Laura Vollmer from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Christina Hecht with the Nutrition Policy Institute. The research was supported by Healthy Eating Research (grant 280-0799), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376), and a training grant in nutrition from the National Institutes of Health (DK 007703–22).
- Author: Danielle L. Lee
- Contributor: Christina A Hecht
Easy access to safe and appealing drinking water is important throughout the school day for students and staff and is required as part of school foodservice, including for school year 2021-2022. Schools may have turned off drinking water fountains during the pandemic, however, the virus that causes COVID-19 has not been found in drinking water and the risk of contracting COVID-19 from surfaces is considered to be low. A new infographic to help schools understand how to safely reopen drinking water fountains was developed by researchers affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research Network. Co-authors include Angie Cradock from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Christina Hecht from the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute and coordinator of the National Drinking Water Alliance, Caitlin Merlo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Anisha Patel from Stanford. The infographic was also featured in a California School Boards Association blog post.
A Green Schools National Network blog post about safe drinking water in schools written by Nutrition Policy Institute senior policy advisor, Christina Hecht, was the network's number four most-read blog in 2021. The post, originally written in February 2018, describes how drinking water is a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages for children. It further describes federal requirements that schools ensure access to drinking water where meals are served, explains concerns about lead and other potential drinking water contaminants and what to do about it, and shares additional resources for schools to help students ‘turn to the tap' to build healthy hydration habits. Hecht also leads the National Drinking Water Alliance, a project coordinated by NPI.