title: A water availability intervention in New York City public schools: influence on youths' water and milk behaviors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We determined the influence of "water jets" on observed water and milk taking and self-reported fluid consumption in New York City public schools.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 2010 to 2011, before and 3 months after water jet installation in 9 schools, we observed water and milk taking in cafeterias (mean 1000 students per school) and surveyed students in grades 5, 8, and 11 (n=2899) in the 9 schools that received water jets and 10 schools that did not. We performed an observation 1 year after implementation (2011-2012) with a subset of schools. We also interviewed cafeteria workers regarding the intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three months after implementation we observed a 3-fold increase in water taking (increase of 21.63 events per 100 students; P<.001) and a much smaller decline in milk taking (-6.73 events per 100 students; P=.012), relative to comparison schools. At 1 year, relative to baseline, there was a similar increase in water taking and no decrease in milk taking. Cafeteria workers reported that the water jets were simple to clean and operate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An environmental intervention in New York City public schools increased water taking and was simple to implement.
authors.affiliation: Brian Elbel and Jonathan Cantor are with the Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York. Tod Mijanovich is with the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Professions, New York University's Steinhardt School, New York. Courtney Abrams is with Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York. At the time of the study, Lillian Dunn, Kristin Cappola, and Cathy Nonas were with New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York. Stephen Onufrak and Sohyun Park are with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elbel
authors.forename: Tod
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mijanovich
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cantor
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nonas
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cappola
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Onufrak
authors.forename: Sohyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004326:Drinking; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D012574:Schools / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014881:Water Supply