title: Contribution of fruit and vegetable intake to hydration status in schoolchildren.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The specific effects of fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake on water balance and consequently on 24-h hydration status (HS) are unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In a large observational cohort of German children, we examined whether a higher F&V intake per se is associated with improved HS and attempted to quantify the influence of greater consumption of F&Vs on HS.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1286 complete 3-d weighed dietary records and 24-h urine samples for 442 children (4- to 10-y-olds) collected in 2000-2010 in the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed Study were analyzed. Free water reserve [FWR; urine volume (mL/24 h) minus obligatory urine volume (mL/24 h)] served as an HS biomarker. Median FWR and water balance variables were analyzed in different categories of solid-F&V intakes. Repeated-measures regression models (PROC MIXED; SAS Institute), adjusted for all other dietary water sources, were used to quantify the separate effects of solid-F&V and F&V-juice consumption on FWR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Negative FWR values, which indicated risk of hypohydration, were observed in 22% of children. FWR was significantly higher in solid-F&V consumers with high intakes than in those with low intakes (P < 0.0001). PROC MIXED models predicted an increase of 46 mL in FWR (average in boys and girls) when increasing solid-F&V intake by 100 g. Similar results were observed for F&V juice (β = 43, P < 0.0001). Drinking water and milk were the other significant dietary predictors of FWR. Solid F&Vs and F&V juices contributed 12% and 10%, respectively, to total water intake.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data confirm that regular intake of F&Vs may relevantly improve HS in children. Dietary interventions to increase F&V intake may be a promising strategy to achieve positive water balance in this population.
authors: From Institut für Ernährungs-und Lebensmittelwissenschaften Nutritional Epidemiology, University of Bonn, DONALD Study at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition, Dortmund, Germany.
authors: Gabriela
authors: G
authors: Montenegro-Bethancourt
authors: Simone A
authors: SA
authors: Johner
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Remer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000886:Anthropometry; D001628:Beverages; D001834:Body Water / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet; D004326:Drinking; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005638:Fruit; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk; D012737:Sex Factors; D014556:Urine; D014675:Vegetables; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance / Q000502:physiology