Drinking water recommendations for the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health

For the first time since 1969, the White House is holding a conference on U.S. nutrition. The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, planned for September 28, 2022, aims to provide a comprehensive package of strategies to reduce hunger and improve nutrition and health in the U.S. Under the direction of Ambassador Susan Rice and in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, the White House Conference team actively sought input from Americans, both to tell personal stories about hunger, nutrition, and health and to offer recommendations for strategies.

As USDA Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean recently pointed out, the 1969 White House Conference produced about 1,800 recommendations. Since that conference, a remarkable 1,600 of those have been implemented, suggesting the scope and power the 2022 Conference may achieve.

Christina Hecht, of University of California’s Nutrition Policy Institute and NDWA coordinator, submitted Policy Recommendations to Encourage Drinking Water in Place of Sugary Beverages.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research team’s submission included water recommendations, available to read at HER Recommendations for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

The National Sugar Sweetened Beverage Group, a working group coordinated by Healthy Food America, included recommendations to support consumption of drinking water among their Healthy Beverage Strategy Recommendations to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

The Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health included a recommendation aimed to support drinking water access in schools in their comprehensive Report of recommendations developed through an extensive consensus process including convenings and policy review. See report page 24 for that recommendation.