Healthy Beverages

Obesity prevalence in the U.S. is rapidly increasing. Health care institutions throughout the country recognize the urgent need to reduce rates of obesity and chronic illness as well as their associated health care costs. Healthy Food in Health Care is working with regional health departments and other key partners to establish strategies that support a healthy food and beverage environment for hospitals. These include:

• Creating healthy vending criteria,
• Reducing advertising of unhealthy beverages,
• Increasing access and signage for public drinking water on hospital grounds, and
• Shifting pricing structures to encourage healthy beverage choices.

More details about these recommendations and additional resources are outlined in the Hydrate for Health document.

It has been well established that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)* contribute to the increased prevalence of obesity and associated chronic diseases that go along with weight gain. The dramatic increase in the consumption of SSBs in the U.S. is fueled by advertising, a significant rise in availability, and the fact that SSBs are relatively inexpensive compared to healthier food and beverage options. Additionally, the production, consumption and waste associated with sugar sweetened and bottled beverages have numerous negative environmental consequences that are often overlooked.

In the U.S., tap water has been proven to be just as safe, or safer, than its bottled version. By supporting and promoting publicly owned water infrastructure, the health care community can send a powerful message about every person’s right to clean and safe water and encourage consumption of a the healthiest beverage alternative…water.