Survey Shows Awareness of Water's Benefits Is High, But Amount Consumed Is Low

• On average, Americans consume 17.6 eight-ounce servings of beverages each day. Of that amount, 6.1 servings are water, including 2.3 servings of bottled water.
  
• In addition to water, Americans drink 5.6 servings of beverages such as milk, juice, carbonated soda without caffeine, new-age beverages and sports drinks.
  
• The remaining 5.9 servings are beverages that contain caffeine or alcohol. Research has shown that these substances are diuretics that can cause the body to lose water, thereby lowering the net total of hydrating beverages. In fact, 33% of what Americans drink every day can cause dehydration.

Here's a look at the beverages Americans say they drink each day:

Few Drink the Daily Recommended Amount

• Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of Americans know that health and nutrition experts recommend drinking eight or more eight-ounce servings of water daily. However, 51 percent admit to drinking less than this amount.
  
• Only 34 percent claim they drink eight or more servings per day. Twenty-eight percent drink three or fewer servings, and nearly 10 percent say they don't drink water at all.
• In addition, Americans claim to experience health problems on a frequent basis that are symptomatic of dehydration. These include frequent tiredness or grogginess when waking up or at mid-day (19 percent), dry or itchy skin (14 percent), headaches (11 percent), indigestion (9 percent), lapses in concentration (7 percent) and constipation (4 percent).

Inconvenience Biggest Obstacle to Proper Hydration

• Americans give a variety of reasons for not drinking enough water, with lack of time or being too busy cited most often (21 percent). Other reasons include: don't like the taste (13 percent), prefer other beverages (12 percent), forgetting (10 percent), not feeling thirsty (8 percent), no bottled water available (4 percent), can't leave their desks for a hydration break (4 percent), worry about too many restroom breaks (2 percent).

Highly Conscious About Health Benefits of Water

• Most Americans are aware of the importance of water consumption to their overall health. Overwhelming, Americans (91 percent) know that drinking enough water is important for pregnant and breast-feeding women, and that water is the best choice to replace fluids after exercising. In addition, 88 percent know people shouldn't wait until they're thirsty to drink water, and 77 percent are aware that caffeine and alcohol can cause the body to lose water.
  
• Bottled water users are significantly more health conscious and cite health as a reason for beverage consumption twice as often as others (15 percent vs. 7 percent). Fifty-six percent of bottled water users cite taste and 55 percent cite convenience as the strongest influences on their decision to drink bottled water. More than a third of bottled water users cite trust in its treatment (37 percent) and source (35 percent) as reasons that influence them very much.
  
• Despite general understanding of the importance of water consumption, 63 percent of Americans don't know that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water as a food product.
  
• Knowing that the FDA does regulate bottled water makes most people (53 percent) feel more confident about bottled water's purity and safety.
  
• Seventy-one percent of Americans feel that the quality of bottled water is high. Thirty percent feel that it is extremely or very high, while another 41 percent feel it is somewhat high.
  
• Half of Americans know that using bottled water to prepare tea, coffee and powdered beverages improves the taste.

Knowledge Gaps Persist

• Americans are unclear about hydration as it relates to certain physiological conditions. Thirty-two percent of respondents do not know that giving a child water instead of juice or regular soda may prevent childhood obesity. Nearly half (49 percent) believe the body loses less water while asleep. Thirty-seven percent think people need fewer fluids when the weather is cold than when it is warm. And 39 percent do not realize that a headache may be a sign of dehydration.

Regional Variations Revealed

• The survey revealed some interesting variations in water consumption among residents in the 14 cities participating in the survey. For example:

• Residents of Los Angeles (3.2 servings) and San Diego (3.2) drink the most bottled water during the course of an average day.
  
• Detroit drinks the least bottled water (1.3).
  
• Residents of San Diego drink the most bottled and tap water overall (6.9), followed by Dallas (6.5), Los Angeles (6.4) and New York (6.4).
  
• The least amount of water is consumed in Detroit (5.4) and Seattle (5.6).