Water Intake And Its Influence Factors Of Children And Adolescents In Four Cities Of China

Objective: To investigate total intake of drinking water and intake ofplain water and beverages of children and adolescents in four cities ofChina, the status on drinking water related knowledge, attitude and practiceof parents and children and adolescents, and the factors of drinking water,then to provide scientific evidence for establishing adequate water intakeand developing health education for children and adolescents in China.Methods: All5868primary and secondary students from four cities inChina were selected by using multi-stage random sampling method. Theinformation of amount and types of daily fluid intake was recorded bysubjects for seven consecutive days using a24hour measurement. Theinformation of students' families, physical activity, the knowledge, attitudeand practice on drinking water of students was collected by questionnaires.Height and weight were measured by uniform training health teachers.Result: The average daily intake of total drinking water, plain waterand beverages of subjects was1089.0ml,743.8ml,345.2ml, respectively.The amount of drinking water in Guangzhou (1185.4ml) and Beijing (1164.6ml) were the highest, the next was Shanghai (1125.8ml), Chengdu(865.7ml) was the lowest, the difference among four cities was statisticallysignificant(F=114.28?P<0.0001). The average daily consumption of plainwater in boys (809.2ml) was significantly higher than in girls (683.4ml)(Z=9.58, P<0.0001). The consumption of beverages of obesity students(371.4ml) and overweight students (375.9ml) were higher thanunderweight students (328.7ml), the difference among four cities wasstatistically significant(F=4.26?P=0.0052).The average daily consumption of milk (174.0ml), SSDs (63.8ml),CSDs (52.4ml) of subjects were significantly higher than other beverages(hot25.2ml, functional10.1ml, other19.6ml)(F=9946.12?P<0.0001).Over eighty percent of students considered plain water being thehealthiest drink in daily life, while23.6%of students chose SSDs as themost favorite drink. The percent of drinking plain water at school was thehighest (87.6%), followed by at home (60.9%) and in public (32.0%), whilethe percent of drinking SSDs and CSDs had a ascending order at school(6.9%), home(11.8%) and public(48.3%).59.9%of students disagreed theopinion of drink a lot of water at one time.56.8%of students disagreed andincompletely agreed the opinion of drinking water when they feel thirsty,while there were34.6%choose partially agree and agree.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that city, sex, region, age,family income, nutritional status, physical activity, parents preparing drinks for children, the knowledge, attitude and practice on drinking water ofparents, the awareness of drinking water of students were significantlycorrelation with total drinking water and intake of plain water andbeverages. Chengdu had a most impact on intake of total drinking water(?'=-0.225) and plain water (?'=-0.177)(P<0.0001). Region had a mostimpact on intake of beverages (?'=-0.153, P<0.0001).Conclusion: Children and adolescents mainly drinking plain water.There are differences among different cities, region, sex, ages, nutritionalstatus, the intensity of physical activity. Parents and children andadolescents have incompletely awareness of drinking water, and there areunhealthy drinking behaviors. City, sex, region, age, nutritional status,physical activity, family factors and the awareness of drinking water areinfluence factors of total drinking water and intake of plain water andbeverages of children and adolescents, in which city is the majordeterminant factor.