JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, U.S. GOV'T, P.H.S.
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Total body water data for white adults 18 to 64 years of age: the Fels Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Total body water (TBW) volume is reported to decrease with age, but much of the published data are 20 to almost 50 years old and are cross-sectional. Proper interpretation of clinical levels of TBW and trends with age necessitates the availability of current longitudinal data from healthy individuals.

METHODS: Mixed longitudinal data for TBW of 274 white men and 292 white women (18 to 64 years of age) in the Fels Longitudinal Study were collected on a regular schedule over a recent eight-year period. The concentration of deuterium was measured by deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Body composition estimates were made with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and random effect models were used to determine the patterns of change over time with and without covariates.

RESULTS: The mean TBW data for the Fels men are either similar to or approximately 2 to as much as 6 liters greater than that reported by most other investigators 20 to 50 years ago. For Fels women, the mean TBW ranges from approximately 2 to as much as 5 liters less than that reported previously. These comparisons with much earlier studies reflect cohort effects and the secular changes in overall body size that have occurred during the past 60 to 70 years. These findings are reinforced by the fact that some early data sets included individuals born almost 140 years ago. After adjusting for the covariate effects of total body fat (TBF) and fat-free mass (FFM) with age, there were no significant age or age-squared effects on TBW in the men. In the women, after adjusting for the covariate associations of TBF and FFM with age, there was a small, but significant, negative linear association of TBW with age. In the men and women, the mean ratio of TBW to weight declined with age as a function of an increase in body fatness and more so for the men than the women.

CONCLUSION: The findings from these mixed longitudinal data indicate that TBW volume, on average, maintains a reasonable degree of stability in men and women through a large portion of adulthood. These TBW data are recommended as current reference data for healthy adults.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app