By Mariamne Beuscher, communications intern  

Water is an essential part of healthful living. Recent study findings determine that non-white adults, especially Black and Hispanic minorities, experience mild dehydration more often than white adults. In 2015, a similar study revealed marked disparities among inadequately hydrated children in the U.S.

Carolyn Brooks and her co-authors at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health in Boston have documented a trend of disparity based on data analyzed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The study team revealed that minorities are more likely to drink sugary sweetened beverages and are also more likely to be inadequately hydrated when compared to whites.

One cause for the disparity in water intake can be attributed to access. Brooks and her team revealed that lower income earning individuals are more likely to experience inadequate hydration than high income earners. Additionally, past studies have documented startling trends of low income, minority, and rural communities which chronically lack access to safe drinking water.

To read more go here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-hydration-disparities-idUSKBN1AQ2EK