Latinos, African-Americans, Buy More Bottled Water

A recent study found that Latinos, along with African-Americans, purchase more bottled water on the mistaken assumption that it’s cleaner and healthier for them.

The Reuters story points out one huge problem with consuming only bottled water: there’s no fluoride in it. Fluoride, as we remember, is important to preventing tooth decay and it’s often found in tap water. That’s not even mentioning the tremendous waste created by bottling what’s essentially tap water, jacking up the price for people who tend to be low income anyway, and then disposing of these bottles in places that may not have recycling programs.

What the article doesn’t really examine is why these perceptions exist. We already know that 22% of Latinos live in poverty and tend to live in the most polluted areas. So you put two and two together and tell me why Latinos are buying bottled water. I found this to be actually the case when I lived in Mexico and along the border: people from there did not trust the water supply so bought bottled water.

This study, like many others, comes from people who are not Latino, looks at Latino families as objects, and then points out what they’re doing “wrong” instead of asking what brings people to do things in the first place. Reuters reported:

The poll showed that a quarter of blacks and Hispanics gave their children only bottled water, compared to eight percent of white parents.

The findings bolster earlier research and show that the greater thirst for bottled waters among minorities comes from a belief that it’s safer, cleaner, better-tasting and more convenient than tap water.

“Most bottled water is just purified tap water — there really aren’t any nutrients in it,” Gorelick said. “There is no real advantage to bottled water, but there might be some disadvantages.”

What are your thoughts on this?

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD