Childhood obesity has, of course, become an epidemic in the United States. "Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With easy access to fast food and soda, it's no shocker that kids are increasing in size year after year. But even more unsettling are the food choices kids sometimes have at school, whether that involves a vending machine or unhealthy cafeteria meals. 

Although some studies point to a "strong genetic component" when it comes to childhood obesity, researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center believe they may have just found a simple solution to this increasingly worrisome problem.

The answer? Water. 

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The researchers' study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, discovered schools that provided water dispensers or "water jets" had kids who weighed less than other schools that didn't offer readily available water.

According to a Morning Ticker report, "the study involved more than a million children at 1,200 schools between kindergarten and the 8th grade, and the kids who had access to water jets were four to five pounds lighter on average."

Senior investigator Brian Elbe released said in a statement that doing something as easy as providing free, readily available water for students can have a huge impact, not only on their health, but on their weight management as well. 

"Decreasing the amount of caloric beverages consumed and simultaneously increasing water consumption is important to promote children's health and decrease the prevalence of childhood obesity," Amy Ellen Schwartz, PhD Director of the NYU Institute for Education and Social Policy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs  at Syracuse University's Maxwell School said in a joint statement.

So the big question is, why don't all schools have free water available for kids? We have a feeling that's about to change very soon. 

[via MorningTicker.com