First lady Michelle Obama is preparing to launch a campaign aimed at convincing Americans to drink more water as part of her Let's Move initiative aimed at improving health and reducing obesity; scientists are coming forward and bashing the plan saying that the science behind it is suspect, Politico reports.
Obama will be in the aptly named Watertown, Wis., on Thursday to kick off the campaign with a speech.
"I've come to realize that if we were going to take just one step to make ourselves and our families healthier, probably the single best thing we could do is to simply drink more water," Obama said in a statement. "That's it - it's really that simple. Drink just one more glass of water a day and you can make a real difference for your health, your energy, and the way you feel."
Sam Kass, the executive director of the Let's Move campaign told reporters that roughly a quarter of children do not drink any water on a daily bases and that 40 percent of Americans drink less than they should, according to the Washington Post.
"We think that a positive, forward-leaning visionary campaign to inspire people to drink more water is going to be the most effective way to help people get the amount of water they need," Kass said. "We are going to keep it positive from start to finish."
Dr. Stanly Goldfarb of the University of Pennsylvania told Politico that the health benefits of drinking more water are not readily clear saying that people are designed to drink when they are thirsty, no more, no less.
"There really isn't data to support this," Goldfarb said. "I think, unfortunately, frankly, they're not basing this on really hard science. It's not a very scientific approach they've taken... To make it a major public health effort, I think I would say it's bizarre."
Part of the idea behind the campaign is that people will be improving their health by drinking water as an alternative to calorie ridden sodas and other beverages that are not very healthy. A German study has shown that urging children to drink more waters and making water readily available for consumption cut down on the amount of children who were "at risk of overweight," according to Politico.
