2022/11/24 by Yosuke Yamada, Xueying Zhang, Mary E. Henderson +89 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Medicine · Nursing · #Climate Change and Health Impacts #Thermoregulation and physiological responses #Child Nutrition and Water Access
paper · doi:10.1126/science.abm8668
openalex publication_date 2022/11/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Water is essential for survival, but one in three individuals worldwide (2.2 billion people) lacks access to safe drinking water. Water intake requirements largely reflect water turnover (WT), the water used by the body each day. We investigated the determinants of human WT in 5604 people from the ages of 8 days to 96 years from 23 countries using isotope-tracking ( 2 H) methods. Age, body size, and composition were significantly associated with WT, as were physical activity, athletic status, pregnancy, socioeconomic status, and environmental characteristics (latitude, altitude, air temperature, and humidity). People who lived in countries with a low human development index (HDI) had higher WT than people in high-HDI countries. On the basis of this extensive dataset, we provide equations to predict human WT in relation to anthropometric, economic, and environmental factors.