ArticleJournal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics2026
Cost-Effectiveness of Installing Water Dispensers in Massachusetts' Schools to Improve Nutrition Environments, Health, and Health Equity.
Article in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cost-Effectiveness of Installing Water Dispensers in Massachusetts' Schools to Improve Nutrition Environments, Health, and Health Equity.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- Water and nutrition in a rapidly changing world: Introduction to the special issue.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvidence suggests that providing children with water on school lunch lines promotes healthy weight and is cost-effective.
objectiveEstimate reach, cost, cost-effectiveness, and impact on weight status and obesity-related health equity of a strategy to install chilled, filtered water dispensers on school lunch lines in Massachusetts' schools.
designA cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted in 2022-2023 using the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study (CHOICES) microsimulation model (2020-2029), estimates from published studies, publicly available national and state surveillance, programmatic, administrative data, and experts' assumptions. PARTICIPANTS/
settingSchools participating in Massachusetts' school drinking water lead testing program with elevated lead concentrations in areas with disproportionate health risks
main outcome measuresReach, cost, cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, and cases of obesity prevented overall and by income, race, and ethnicity STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Means and 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for outcomes were estimated by running the model 1000 times, accounting for uncertainty from data sources and population projections.
resultsThis strategy is projected to improve drinking water access for 265 000 (95% UI, 259 000-273 000) students in 304 schools, prevent 525 (95% UI, 192-880) cases of childhood obesity in 2029, cost $4.48/student/year (95% UI, $3.54-$5.43) to implement, and is likely cost-effective ($72 700 (95% UI, $40 000-$234 000) per QALY). Larger projected reductions in obesity prevalence for Hispanic/Latino and Black students compared with white students were observed (7.2 [95% UI, 5.2-10.3], and 4.7 [95% UI, 2.9-7.4], respectively), and among students from families with lowest incomes (<130% Federal Poverty Level) compared with the highest incomes (>350% Federal Poverty Level) (2.6 [95% UI, 1.9-3.5]).
conclusionsA strategy to provide chilled, filtered water dispensers on lunch lines in Massachusetts schools is projected to improve school nutrition environments, increase water consumption, prevent excess weight gain, improve health equity, and be cost-effective.
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Registered trials
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