Publications by authors named "Lauren S Blacker"
Objectives: Reports of unsafe school drinking water in the United States highlight the importance of ensuring school water is safe for consumption. Our objectives were to describe (1) results from our recent school drinking water sampling of 5 common contaminants, (2) school-level factors associated with exceedances of various water quality standards, and (3) recommendations.
Methods: We collected and analyzed drinking water samples from at least 3 sources in 83 schools from a representative sample of California public schools from 2017 through 2022.
Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), or drinks with added sugars, show promise in decreasing purchases and consumption of SSBs. Some have called for coupling such taxes with improvements in access to safe drinking water as a strategy for reducing inequities in SSB intake, yet no studies have examined such an approach. Drink Tap is a San Francisco-based program in which public tap water stations were installed in parks and public spaces (winter 2017) and promotional efforts (fall and winter 2018) encouraged water intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objective: Drinking water promotion and access shows promise for preventing weight gain. This study evaluated the impact of Water First, a school-based water promotion and access intervention on changes in overweight.
Methods: Low-income, ethnically diverse elementary schools in California's Bay Area were cluster-randomized to intervention and control groups.
Introduction: Recent legislation requires public and charter schools in California to test drinking water for lead. Our objective was to describe 1) results from this testing program in the context of other available water safety data and 2) factors related to schools and water utilities associated with access to safe drinking water in schools.
Methods: Our study focused on a random sample of 240 California public and charter schools.