Michelle Obama Launches Drive Encouraging Americans To Drink More Water; Draws Criticism

After urging Americans to eat healthy for more than four years, First lady Michelle Obama has now launched a new campaign asking people to drink more water.

The public awareness campaign titled “Drink Up” was launched on Thursday where Obama extolled the benefits of drinking water. According to reports, the campaign was launched to promote a simple solution for a healthy lifestyle.

"I’ve come to realize that if we were going to take just one step to make ourselves and our families healthier, probably the single best thing we could do is to simply drink more water. It’s as simple as that," the First lady said, kickstarting the campaign at a high school in Watertown, Wis., according to Politico. "Drink just one more glass of water a day and you can make a real difference for your health, for your energy and the way that you feel."

Obama added that the First family also has increased their intake of water and that they have noticed a surge in their energy levels.

Obama has not excluded other water alternatives such as sodas and soft drinks, and has roped in several companies such as Nestle Waters, Brita, Dasani, Smart Tap, Evian and Voss to help promote the campaign. These companies, according to reports, will carry a “Drink Up” logo on their products.

But, the campaign has drawn flak from a number of health experts who said there were no scientific data to prove that drinking water increases energy and said that Obama is overselling the benefits of drinking water.

"There really isn't data to support this," Stanley Goldfarb, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told Politico. "I think, unfortunately, frankly, they're not basing this on really hard science. It's not a very scientific approach they've taken. ... To make it a major public health effort, I think I would say it's bizarre."

Goldfarb added: "The idea drinking water increases energy, the word I've used to describe it is: quixotic," he said. "We're designed to drink when we're thirsty. ... There's no need to have more than that."