Abstract
BackgroundIn developing countries where access to water and food is not guaranteed, women may have to travel long distances or engage in intense physical activities to gather food. This may compromise their water requirements and overall nutritional status. The aim of the study was to determine water turnover, physical activity and body composition among women in Kenya and to describe the differences between rural and urban Kenyan women.MethodsThirty women from Narok County who were not pregnant at the time of the study were recruited. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. Deuterium dilution was used to determine total body water (TBW) and water turnover was measured from deuterium elimination. Fat-free mass (FFM) was calculated by assuming a constant hydration fraction of 73.2%. Accelerometers (Actigraph GT3X) were used to assess physical activity and expressed as Vector magnitude counts per day (VM/day). Simple and multiple linear regressions were used to define the determinants of water turnover.ResultsMean BMI was 23.4 ± 4.1 and 21.5 ± 3.8 among rural and urban women respectively. The prevalence of overweight (BMI > 25 kg/m2) was 24.1% and of underweight (BMI < 18.4 kg/m2) was 25%. The mean total body water (TBW) was 29.3 ± 4.2 liters (L) and water turnover was 3.2 ± 0.8 liters per day (L/day). Water loss was positively associated with BMI (R2 = .45, p < 0.001, n = 28) and Fat mass index (FMI) (R2 = .41, p < 0.001, n = 28). Water loss was also positively associated with physical activity (PA) (R2 = .25, p < 0.05, n = 22). Multiple regression analysis showed that physical activity in addition to BMI in the model explained an additional 15% of the variation in water turnover (r2 = 0.53, p < 0.05; ∆r2 = 0.15, p < 0.05, n = 22) compared to BMI alone (r2 = 0.38, p < 0.005 n = 22).ConclusionBMI together with physical activity were the strongest predictors of water loss.
Highlights
In developing countries where access to water and food is not guaranteed, women may have to travel long distances or engage in intense physical activities to gather food
We found a positive relationship between body composition (BMI, fat free mass index (FFMI), and total body water (TBW)) and water turnover
We found the percentage of fat mass (FM) to be higher and fat free mass (FFM) to be lower compared to that reported in a study done in another part of Kenya [17]
Summary
In developing countries where access to water and food is not guaranteed, women may have to travel long distances or engage in intense physical activities to gather food This may compromise their water requirements and overall nutritional status. The aim of the study was to determine water turnover, physical activity and body composition among women in Kenya and to describe the differences between rural and urban Kenyan women. The aim of this study was to assess water turnover, and to determine the effect of body composition and physical activity on water loss in Kenyan women. Another aim was to describe the difference in water turnover, body composition and physical activity among rural and urban Kenyan women
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