Physical Wellness

First Lady’s Newest Initiative: Drink More Water

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Sep 13, 2013 03:14 PM EDT

America's first lady, Michelle Obama, has launched her latest initiative called Drink Up. The campaign, which is a part of her three-year-old Let's Move campaign, aims to get people to start drinking more water. The campaign started yesterday in Watertown, WI.

Even though drinking water is relatively accessible in the United States, adults and children often do not remember to stay hydrated. Water, which is more important than food, keeps the body moving. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 43 percent of American adults drink less than four cups of water daily while seven percent reported that they do not drink water at all. The recommended amount of water that people should drink every day is eight eight-ounce glasses of water.

"We're being completely positive in our messaging, every participating [water] company has agreed to only encourage people to drink water, not focus on what people shouldn't drink or even why their water might be better. It is just more water," commented Lawrence Soler, the president of the Partnership for a Healthier America, which is a nonprofit organization that was started with the Let's Move campaign.

The campaign is designed to encourage people to drink water. It does not attempt to get people to replace their soft drinks and sugary juices with water. The campaign hopes that by focusing on water consumption alone, people would start substituting non-water beverages with water on their own. The CDC states that by replacing sugary drinks with water, people could cut out around 650 calories every day.

The passive approached Drink Up has taken in terms of deciding not to attack soda consumption has gotten criticism. Some critics believe that even if people are persuaded to drink more water, the campaign does nothing to make sure that people are not drinking sugary beverages. However, Drink Up has defended its decision to take a less aggressive approach.

"[Drink Up] actually [is] trying to learn from the private sector and engage people in positive way that's more inspiring," Soler explained according to TIME.

So far, the cities that are a part of the campaign are Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles County. The campaign works with the American Beverage Association and the International Bottled Water Association, as well as multiple bottled water companies.

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