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. 2023 Apr 4;36(5):470-477.
doi: 10.1515/jpem-2022-0462. Print 2023 May 25.

The association between hydration status and body composition in healthy children and adolescents

Priscilla Clayton  1 , María Angélica Trak-Fellermeier  1 , Alison Macchi  1 , Rodolfo Galván  1 , Zoran Bursac  2 , Fatma Huffman-Ercanli  1 , Juan Liuzzi  1 , Cristina Palacios  1
Affiliations

The association between hydration status and body composition in healthy children and adolescents

Priscilla Clayton et al. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. .

Abstract

Objectives: Children 10-20 years old in the US are currently obese, showing suboptimal hydration as 60% fail to meet the US Dietary Reference Intakes for water. Studies have shown a significant inverse association between hydration status and body composition in children, although most failed to use the Dual-X-Ray Absorptiometry Scan (DEXA), the gold standard for body composition. Limited studies used an objective marker to measure hydration, such as urine specific gravity (USG) from a 24-h urine collection. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between hydration status (measured from USG in a 24-h urine sample and assessed from three 24-h dietary recalls) and body fat % and lean mass (assessed from a DEXA scan) in children (10-13 years, n=34) and adolescents (18-20 years, n=34).

Methods: Body composition was measured using DEXA, total water intake (mL/d) was assessed from three 24-h dietary recalls and analyzed using the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR). Hydration status was objectively measured using USG via 24-h urine collection.

Results: Overall body fat % was 31.7 ± 7.31, total water intake was 1746 ± 762.0 mL/d, and USG score was 1.020 ± 0.011 uG. Linear regressions showed significance between total water intake and lean mass (B=12.2, p<0.05). Logistic regressions showed no significant association between body composition and USG and total water intake.

Conclusions: Findings showed total water intake was significantly associated with lean mass. Future research should be conducted to explore other objective markers of hydration and with a larger sample.

Keywords: adolescents; body composition; children; hydration; nutrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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