Water consumption and its association with body composition measurements in patients under nutritional care

Water is our body's most important nutrient. There is evidence that mild dehydration can play a role in the occurrence of several chronic diseases such as: kidney and urinary diseases, constipation, respiratory diseases, hyperglycemia in diabetic ketoacidosis, arterial hypertension, fatal coronary disease, venous thromboembolism, and cerebral infarction. Furthermore, inadequate water consumption has been associated with weight gain. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of pure water consumption on anthropometric measures and dietary intake in individuals undergoing nutritional care. The study was carried out by consulting the medical records of patients at the Nutritional Care Clinic of the Universidad Federal de Santa Maria, Campus Palmeira das Missoes, attended in 2019. The research investigated 52 patient records, mostly women (78.84%) with overweight and obesity (51.91%) and who had low water consumption. Statistical analyzes showed that the group that consumed less water had increased hip circumference (HC) and body adiposity index (BAI) compared to the group that consumed more water. The difference between the means was9.31 cm (+/- 3.15 cm) for CQ and 5.14% (+/- 1.89 %) for BAI (p < 0.05). Of the patients with a body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/m(2) (n=27), only 8 consumed more than 1.5L/day of water and twice as much, 19 consumed up to 1.5L/day of water. As water is important for all vital processes, it is necessary to assess the population's water consumption, for interventions in this regard, by health professionals and, especially, dietitians.