First Lady Michelle Obama will be in Wisconsin on Thursday to encourage people to drink more water.
Officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that a quarter of American children don't drink any water on a given day. As for Americans in general, 40 percent don't get the recommended amount. Yet, according to the industry trade magazine Beverage Digest, bottled water consumption has surpassed cola intake in the U.S.
The First Lady's “Let's Move!” campaign sees this trend as an opportunity to get people to drink more water, whether from the faucet or a store shelf.
“We still have an enormous problem in this country in rates of obesity and we're beginning to see some positive signals in childhood obesity, but there's a lot more work to do,” said Larry Soler, president of Partnership for a Healthier America.
The First Lady will kick off a nationwide effort to promote water consumption in Watertown. It's the home of two soft drink distributors, but that's not why the location was chosen, said Sam Kass, the executive director of Let's Move! “The reason we chose Watertown is because the First Lady will be calling on every city and town in America to make their town a Watertown,” says Kass. “Watertown has been voted for two years in a row to have the best water in Wisconsin.”
Each year, the Wisconsin Water Association holds a taste contest at the state fair. Madison won this year's competition.
