Water And Other Drinks Consumption Evaluation In Kuwait

Abstract

The problem of securing and gaining reliable water supplies has been an issue of great importance to the people of Kuwait, ever since the earliest days of settlement in the region. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the Kuwaitis' attitudes concerning water and other drinks consumption. A simple, yet structured questionnaire, which provides the data base for the study was designed, presented, and employed in a person-survey of a random sample of 2,500 individuals residing in the six governorates of Kuwait. The frequency distribution of the type of water (tap, filter and/or bottled), number of classes of water, number of classes of other drinks, and other socio-economic characteristics of the sample population are presented. Results show that although an overwhelming majority of Kuwaitis know that drinking water is health enhancing, most do not drink as much per day as they should. Results also show that people in Kuwait consume a lot of dehydrating drinks. More importantly, this research establishes a baseline of information about public opinion, knowledge, and behavior regarding drinking water and other drinks, so that the impact of public education programs, in particular, may be assessed and measured in the future.