Current Status Water Intake Of Adults In Four Cities Of China

[Objective]Water, the source of life, is the essential substance to maintain good health. Drinking less or more water will take disadvantages to health. Therefore, adequate intake for water plays an important role to keep fit. To describe total drinking water intake and the water sources of adults in four cities of China, to explore methods for advanced drinking water survey, to accumulate basic information for establishing adequate water intake in China, we carried out the survey in June to July,2010.[Methods]The survey divided people aged 18～60 yrs from the Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou into two parts to complete Drinking Water Survey and Water Sources Survey respectively.1. Drinking Water Survey:A total of 1483 adults from the four cities were selected using multiple-stage random sampling method. The information of amounts and types of daily drinking water was recorded by subjects for seven consecutive days using a quantitative measurement. The information of the status on knowledge of drinking water was collected by face-to-face interview.2. Water Sources Survey:A total of 63 adults were selected using convenient sampling method. The information on amounts and types of daily drinking water was recorded by subjects for three consecutive days (including one weekend day) using a quantitative measurement. The food samples were collected by using duplicate portion method and the water content of food samples were determined by using the national standard (GB/T 5009.3-2003).[Results]1. Drinking Water Survey:The median of daily total drinking water of subjects was 1488ml, with significant difference among the four cities (χ2=154.31, P<0.0001) as the most in Shanghai (1793ml) and the least in Chengdu (1150ml). Daily drinking water was significantly higher in men (1679ml) than women (1370ml, Z=8.34, P<0.0001), but not significant difference between urban (1514ml) and rural (1466ml). The median of daily consumption of plain water, tea and beverages were 786 ml (accounted for 60.3%),109 ml (accounted for 22.1%),186 ml (accounted for 17.6%), respectively. Among four cities, the highest consumption of plain water were the subjects in Guangzhou (917ml), while the highest tea consumption in Shanghai (257ml) and the highest beverages consumption in Shanghai (323ml)and Beijing (264 ml). Consumption of tea in men was significantly higher than that in women (Z=7.52, P<0.0001). Subjects in urban had lower consumption of plain water than in rural, but higher consumption of tea and beverages. The proportion was 32.4% for subjects with drinking less than 1200 ml per day, with the highest in Chengdu (53.4%) and the lowest in Shanghai (16.6%,χ2=125.44, P<0.0001), while higher in women (38.4%) than in men (26.3%,χ2=24.80, P<0.0001).The factors of city, gender, BMI and physical activity level influenced daily drinking water. The factors of city, region, age, BMI, gender, behavior of smoking and drinking alcohol affected daily amount of plain water. The factors of city, gender, age, behavior of smoking and drinking alcohol affected daily amount of tea. The factors of city, region, age, degree of education, behavior of drinking alcohol and physical activity level affected daily amount of plain water.The unawareness rate of amount of drinking water recommendation was 28.4%, with the highest in Chengdu (41.8%,χ2=62.95, P<0.0001). The rate in women (32.4%) was significantly higher than in men (24.4%,χ2=11.55, P=0.0007). The unawareness rate of the harm of dehydration was 14.4%. The rate in Chengdu (18.5%) and Guangzhou (18.3%) was higher than in the other cities (χ2=20.60, P=0.000). The rate in rural (18.6%) was significantly higher than in urban (10.2%,χ2=21.47, P<0.0001). The people who considered drinking water when they felt thirsty as healthy behavior accounted for 48.3%. The rate in Chengdu was the highest (59.0%).The unawareness rate of plain water being the best accounted for 19.9%, while 17.9% of them considered beverages as the best. 2. Water Sources Survey:The median of daily total water intake of subjects was 3045ml, while daily drinking water was 1600ml (accounted for 55.8%) and water from food was 1157ml (accounted for 41.4%). Daily total water intake and the proportion of water from food of subjects in Chengdu (3566ml,45.4%) was significantly higher than subjects in Shanghai (2748ml,33.1%), Beijing (2743ml, 31.3%) and Guangzhou (2929ml,45.4%, P<0.05). Daily total water intake in men (3302ml) was significantly higher than in women (2900ml, Z=2.35, P=0.0190).[Conclusions]The average of daily total water intake exceeds the current recommended water intake in China, while more than 50% from drinking, others from food. The influence factors of drinking water are various and complex. The knowledge of drinking water healthily of subjects in the four cities is not comprehensive.