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Water turnover among human populations: Effects of environment and lifestyle.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Swanson, ZS; Pontzer, H
Published in: American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council
January 2020

To discuss the environmental and lifestyle determinants of water balance in humans and identify the gaps in current research regarding water use across populations.We investigated intraspecific variation in water turnover by comparing data derived from a large number of human populations measured using either dietary survey or isotope tracking. We also used published data from a broad sample of mammalian species to identify the interspecific relationship between body mass and water turnover.Water facilitates nearly all physiological tasks and water turnover is strongly related to body size among mammals (r2=0.90). Within humans, however, the effect of body size is small. Instead, water intake and turnover vary with lifestyle and environmental conditions. Notably, despite living physically active lives in conditions that should increase water demands, the available measures of water intake and turnover among small-scale farming and pastoralist communities are broadly similar to those in less active, industrialized populations.More work is required to better understand the environmental, behavioral, and cultural determinants of water turnover in humans living across a variety of ecosystems and lifestyles. The results of such work are made more vital by the climate crisis, which threatens the water security of millions around the globe.

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Published In

American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council

DOI

EISSN

1520-6300

ISSN

1042-0533

Publication Date

January 2020

Volume

32

Issue

1

Start / End Page

e23365

Related Subject Headings

  • Life Style
  • Humans
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Environment
  • Drinking Water
  • Culture
  • 4401 Anthropology
  • 3210 Nutrition and dietetics
  • 1601 Anthropology
  • 1111 Nutrition and Dietetics
 

Citation

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ICMJE
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Swanson, Z. S., & Pontzer, H. (2020). Water turnover among human populations: Effects of environment and lifestyle. American Journal of Human Biology : The Official Journal of the Human Biology Council, 32(1), e23365. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23365
Swanson, Zane S., and Herman Pontzer. “Water turnover among human populations: Effects of environment and lifestyle.American Journal of Human Biology : The Official Journal of the Human Biology Council 32, no. 1 (January 2020): e23365. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23365.
Swanson ZS, Pontzer H. Water turnover among human populations: Effects of environment and lifestyle. American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council. 2020 Jan;32(1):e23365.
Swanson, Zane S., and Herman Pontzer. “Water turnover among human populations: Effects of environment and lifestyle.American Journal of Human Biology : The Official Journal of the Human Biology Council, vol. 32, no. 1, Jan. 2020, p. e23365. Epmc, doi:10.1002/ajhb.23365.
Swanson ZS, Pontzer H. Water turnover among human populations: Effects of environment and lifestyle. American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council. 2020 Jan;32(1):e23365.
Journal cover image

Published In

American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council

DOI

EISSN

1520-6300

ISSN

1042-0533

Publication Date

January 2020

Volume

32

Issue

1

Start / End Page

e23365

Related Subject Headings

  • Life Style
  • Humans
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Environment
  • Drinking Water
  • Culture
  • 4401 Anthropology
  • 3210 Nutrition and dietetics
  • 1601 Anthropology
  • 1111 Nutrition and Dietetics