NCT03181971 is a NA clinical trial of Water First in Obesity, sponsored by Stanford University.

Who is sponsoring NCT03181971?

NCT03181971 is sponsored by Stanford University.

What drugs are being tested in NCT03181971?

Interventions in NCT03181971: Water First.

Is NCT03181971 still recruiting?

NCT03181971 is currently completed. Last updated 27 June 2024.

Are results published for NCT03181971?

Yes — primary outcome results have been posted to ClinicalTrials.gov. See the outcomes section above for details.

Last reviewed 2024-06-27 · How we verify

NCT03181971

Name: Drug Landscape Pharmaceutical Database
Creator: Drug Landscape
Published: 2026-01-01
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

School Water Access, Food and Beverage Intake, and Obesity

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 27 June 2024

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Water First in Obesity in 1,861 participants. Completed in 27 May 2022.

Timeline

1 August 2016

Primary endpoint
25 May 2022

27 May 2022

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Stanford University
Phase	NA
Status	Completed
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	1,861
Start date	1 August 2016
Primary completion	25 May 2022
Estimated completion	27 May 2022
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Water First

Conditions studied

Obesity — all drugs for Obesity →

Sponsor

Stanford University

Who can join

Adults 9 to 100, any sex, with Obesity. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Number of Participants With Age- and Sex-adjusted BMI% Greater Than or Equal to 85% Primary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Trained research staff will measure students' heights and weights as outlined in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Anthropometry Procedures Manual.

Baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	335
Control - Students	273

Month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	315
Control - Students	263

Month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	274
Control - Students	262

Number of Participants With Age- and Sex-adjusted BMI% Greater Than or Equal to 95%. Yes or No. Secondary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Trained research staff will measure students' heights and weights as outlined in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Anthropometry Procedures Manual.

Baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	222
Control - Students	165

Month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	202
Control - Students	159

Month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	179
Control - Students	144

BMI Percentile,Mean(SD) Secondary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Trained research staff will measure students' heights and weights as outlined in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Anthropometry Procedures Manual.

Baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	73.2	± 28.1
Control - Students	71.9	± 28.7

Month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	73.7	± 27.1
Control - Students	71.8	± 28.4

Month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	73.5	± 28.0
Control - Students	72.9	± 28.5

BMI, Mean (SD) Secondary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Trained research staff will measure students' heights and weights as outlined in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Anthropometry Procedures Manual.

Baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	20.4	± 4.6
Control - Students	20.1	± 4.6

Month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	20.9	± 4.7
Control - Students	20.5	± 4.7

Month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	21.4	± 5.1
Control - Students	21.2	± 4.9

BMI Z-score, Mean (SD) Secondary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Trained research staff will measure students' heights and weights as outlined in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Anthropometry Procedures Manual. BMI z-scores (or standard deviation scores) are used in anthropometry to quantify a measurement's distance from the mean. The measurement is obtained using the sex, age, weight and height of the participants. The z-score is based on United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth references for children. A z-score of 0 reflects the 50th percentile based on the reference growth charts. For example, a z-score of 1.5

Baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	0.9	± 1.1
Control - Students	0.8	± 1.1

Month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	0.9	± 1.1
Control - Students	0.8	± 1.1

Month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	0.9	± 1.1
Control - Students	0.9	± 1.1

Caloric Intake Secondary · Baseline and 7-months after the start of the study

Food and beverage diaries will be used to calculate daily caloric intake from foods and beverages.

Total - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	1636	± 796
Control - Students	1699	± 727

Total - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	1610	± 805
Control - Students	1676	± 782

Food - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	1371	± 705
Control - Students	1434	± 654

Food - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	1380	± 727
Control - Students	1425	± 696

Beverage - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	265	± 214
Control - Students	265	± 212

Beverage - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	229	± 227
Control - Students	251	± 231

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	223	± 205
Control - Students	223	± 204

SSB - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	190	± 199
Control - Students	214	± 223

Water Intake - Grams Consumed Secondary · Baseline and 7-months

Food and beverage diaries will be used to calculate daily water intake.

Baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	414	± 443
Control - Students	454	± 441

Month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	462	± 576
Control - Students	441	± 472

Beverage Intake Secondary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Beverage intake frequency questionnaires will be used to calculate past-week frequency of beverages consumed (times per day).

Water - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	6.1	± 4.3
Control - Students	5.7	± 4.2

Water - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	7.1	± 5.2
Control - Students	5.2	± 3.9

Water - month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	6.2	± 4.7
Control - Students	4.8	± 3.8

SSB - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	3.5	± 4.2
Control - Students	3.5	± 4.2

SSB - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	2.4	± 3.5
Control - Students	2.8	± 3.7

SSB - month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	2.1	± 2.8
Control - Students	2.2	± 2.9

Juice - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	0.8	± 1.1
Control - Students	0.8	± 1.1

Juice - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	0.6	± 1.0
Control - Students	0.6	± 0.8

Water Intake Secondary · Baseline, 7-months, and 15-months after the start of the study.

Direct observations of water consumed at lunchtime, 4th-grade physical education (PE) classes, and recess. Researchers tallied the number of students using water sources and the student census in the area to estimate the proportion using stations or fountains.

Lunch - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	3.5	± 6.1
Control - Students	3.7	± 6.1

Lunch - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	38.3	± 15.9
Control - Students	3.6	± 4.7

Lunch - month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	9.2	± 7.7
Control - Students	3.2	± 3.1

Recess - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	6.5	± 3.4
Control - Students	6.1	± 4.5

Recess - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	29.3	± 36.5
Control - Students	6.6	± 4.1

Recess - month 15

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	8.8	± 3.1
Control - Students	3.3	± 3.0

PE class - baseline

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	66.6	± 87.8
Control - Students	47.4	± 32.2

PE class - month 7

Group	Value	95% CI
Water Access and Promotion - Students	89.6	± 58.7
Control - Students	53.2	± 65.6

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Time frame: 15 months. Reporting threshold: 0%. Adverse-event reports describe events observed during the trial — not all are caused by the drug.

Water Access and Promotion - Students

Serious: 1/680 (0%)

Deaths: 1/680

Water Access and Promotion - School Personnel

Serious: 0/10 (0%)

Deaths: 0/10

Control - Students

Serious: 0/582 (0%)

Deaths: 0/582

Control - School Personnel

Serious: 0/12 (0%)

Deaths: 0/12

Food Service Directors

Serious: 0/13 (0%)

Deaths: 0/13

Serious adverse events (1 terms)

Reaction	System	Water Access and Promotion…	Water Access and Promotion…	Control - Students	Control - School Personnel	Food Service Directors
Death	General disorders	—	—	—	—	—

Most-reported serious reactions: Death.

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03181971 adverse events section.

Sponsor's own description

It is widely argued that the promotion of water consumption, as an alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages, can assist in childhood obesity prevention efforts. Yet no studies have tested this argument in real world schools where flavored milk or juices are available. This trial will fill gaps by examining how promoting fresh water intake-both in schools that do and do not provide access to caloric beverages -impacts children's consumption of food and beverages both during and outside of school, and obesity.

Publications & conference data

5 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

Environmental interventions to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and their effects on health.
von Philipsborn P, Stratil JM, Burns J, Busert LK, et al · · 2019 · cited 177× · PMID 31194900 · DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd012292.pub2
Interventions to prevent obesity in children aged 5 to 11 years old.
Spiga F, Davies AL, Tomlinson E, Moore TH, et al · · 2024 · cited 40× · PMID 38763517 · DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd015328.pub2
Effectiveness of a School Drinking Water Promotion and Access Program for Overweight Prevention.
Patel AI, Schmidt LA, McCulloch CE, Blacker LS, et al · · 2023 · cited 12× · PMID 37545466 · DOI 10.1542/peds.2022-060021
A cluster-randomized controlled trial of an elementary school drinking water access and promotion intervention: Rationale, study design, and protocol.
Moreno GD, Schmidt LA, Ritchie LD, McCulloch CE, et al · · 2021 · cited 8× · PMID 33370616 · DOI 10.1016/j.cct.2020.106255
Water Promotion for Overweight Prevention in Schoolchildren: For Whom Does It Work Best? - Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.
Richard V, Ryu K, Peralta Y, Pedroza-Tobias A, et al · · 2026 · PMID 41167508 · DOI 10.1016/j.amepre.2025.108175

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Verify against primary sources

ClinicalTrials.gov — authoritative US registry record
WHO ICTRP — international registry index
EU Clinical Trials Register
Sponsor press releases (Google)

Data sources for this page

Trial protocol + status: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03181971 (US National Library of Medicine, public domain)
Publications: Europe PMC API search by NCT ID, retrieved 10 June 2026
Drug + disease cross-links: matched in real time against Drug Landscape's normalised drug + company + condition tables
Sponsor: as reported to ClinicalTrials.gov by Stanford University
Last refreshed: 27 June 2024

Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT03181971.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing

NCT03181971

Quick facts

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Who can join

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Serious adverse events (1 terms)

Sponsor's own description

Publications & conference data

Related trials

Other recruiting trials for Obesity

Other Stanford University trials

Verify against primary sources