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Waihee Elementary School promotes smart beverage choices for students

Water bottle filling station provides an alternative to sugary beverages

More than 750 students from Waihee Elementary School learned about the benefits of healthy hydration on March 31 at an event that unveiled the school’s new water bottle filling station to promote smart beverage choices at school.

The water station, along with free water bottles provided to each Waihee Elementary student, teacher and staff member, is a coordinated school wellness strategy led by the Hawaii Initiative for Childhood Obesity Research and Education — Hawaii 5210 Initiative, in collaboration with the Department of Education and supported by a community benefit grant from Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.

“Mahalo to our community partners HICORE and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii for their generous donation, which will help our students and staff implement healthy habits we’ve been teaching throughout the year,” said Principal Lori Yatsushiro.

The program, which began in 2015 as a pilot project on Oahu, allows schools to “earn” water bottle filling stations by adopting healthy policies, such as reducing or eliminating sugary beverages from their campus, and promoting healthier beverage consumption at school and at home.

By expanding to Maui, it expects to benefit more than 20 public schools and thousands of students on the island.

“By choosing water over sugary drinks, our keiki develop healthy habits that help prevent obesity and related conditions, such as diabetes,” said Dr. May Okihiro, pediatrician at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine and director of HICORE. “Our water bottle filling stations provide an easily accessible alternative to juice and soda that helps them make smart choices at school. Health education and policies at school will help support healthy beverage consumption by students and school staff.”

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