Influence of Water Intake and Balance on Body Composition in Healthy Young Adults from Spain.

García García,Varela-Moreiras Varela-Moreiras,Moráis-Moreno Moráis-Moreno,Partearroyo Partearroyo,Samaniego-Vaesken Samaniego-Vaesken

doi:10.3390/nu11081923

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity has become an epidemic public health problem worldwide. In the last years, several investigations have suggested that water intake and retention could have important implications for both weight management and body composition. However, there is a lack of information about this issue globally, and mainly specifically in Spain. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the association between hydration status and body composition in a sample of healthy Spanish adults. The study involved 358 subjects, aged 18–39 years. The recently validated “hydration status questionnaire” was used to assess their water intake, elimination, and balance. Anthropometric measurements were performed according to the recommendations of the International Standards for Anthropometric Assessment (ISAK). Body composition variables were acquired by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Differences in anthropometric and body composition variables were assessed through the ANOVA test and considered significant at p < 0.05. Fluid intake was correlated with body water content. Inverse associations between water consumption, normalized by weight, with body weight, body fat mass, and waist circumference were found. Moreover, according to water balance, significant differences in body water content in females were observed. In conclusion, higher fluid intake seems to be related with a healthier body composition. Therefore, the improvement of water intake and water balance could be useful for overweight and obesity prevention, although further studies are needed to confirm the present findings.

Highlights

It is well known that the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity has become a public epidemic around the world [1]
Several investigations have suggested that water intake (WI) and water balance (WB) could have important implications for both weight management and body composition [6,7,8,9]
It can be observed that WI, drinking water, water from beverages, and total WI were significantly higher in males compared to females

Summary

Introduction

It is well known that the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity has become a public epidemic around the world [1]. The first step to develop prevention is to further understand the obesity–environmental interrelationships The fact that their classical determinants (diet and physical activity) do not sufficiently explain this situation make it necessary to examine other possible factors which could be implicated [4,5]. In this regard, several investigations have suggested that water intake (WI) and water balance (WB) could have important implications for both weight management and body composition [6,7,8,9]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion