Study Says Americans Will Drink More Water Than Soda This Year

Is America becoming healthier? A study showed that for 2016, Americans will be grabbing more bottled water instead of soda cans. But if water consumption increases, what will happen to soda companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi?

The Huffington Post reported that the research firm Euromonitor released a report saying that bottled water consumption of Americans will overtake the long-standing soda consumption. Although data only involved the year 201, if this trend continues, it might just pave the way for a healthier America.

Bottled water consumption to pass soda in 2016. Via:https://t.co/M6B0Aujhlr. cc: @CrossFit @anahadoconnor pic.twitter.com/Pav5Xqf0eG

— Russ Greene (@GreenPlusAnE) April 14, 2016

According to the report, Americans are more likely to choose carbonated water, fortified water, still water and flavored water over soft drinks. Bloomberg mentioned that this is likely to continue until 2020. Beyond the year 2020 is something that was not forecast.

Consumption of bottled water is set to overtake that of soda in the U.S. for 1st time https://t.co/AwXTrTuaCI pic.twitter.com/7gPXRx5a3y

— Bloomberg (@business) April 15, 2016

Euromonitor explained that the recent shift in America's beverage choices has got to do with the link between high soda consumption and the rising number of obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. This paved the way for bottled water to be the "hero," the better and healthier alternative.

Not only that, soda has also been painted as the evil beverage that contributes to America's obesity problem. Previous reports have also been highlighting the high sugar content in sodas, which could be the leading factor in obesity and diabetes with regard to soda consumption.

#BottledWater popularity continues, sales and consumption growing fast https://t.co/2U6R3g0O6S — IBWA (@BottledWaterOrg) April 20, 2016

While the findings of Euromonitor may help lower obesity problems, there is still a difference between who cuts back on soda intake. Previous studies showed that low income families are still more likely to indulge in soda as compared to their affluent counterparts. This is still one area of concern that must be addressed if a paradigm shift in obesity problems is to be addressed.

According to Business Insider, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, two of the soda giants in the U.S. are not in panic mode, but are in investment mode. These two, expecting the backlash of the growing number of obese individuals to soda sales, started investing in bottled water as well. Now that's good business judgment at its finest.