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  • Summary and Outlook
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Summary and Outlook

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 57, pages S96–S100 (2003)Cite this article

Water is quantitatively the most important nutrient. In the past, medicinal interest was related to the most dramatic body water imbalances, that is, severe dehydration and water intoxication. There is increasing concern, however, that mild dehydration may also account for various morbidity rates. Nevertheless, water intake is frequently disregarded, as there is no universally accepted laboratory method to characterise the hydration status of individuals or groups of people, and water requirement varies depending on several factors (eg climate, physical activity, renal solute load). Both these factors make it difficult to set general Recommended Dietary Allowance values for water intake.

The Second International Conference on Hydration throughout Life, was therefore devoted to “The Health Effects of Mild Dehydration”. Several recent findings attracted special attention in the lectures and discussions of the conference and the papers of this supplement. Furthermore, agreement has been reached with regard to the following statements and conclusions.

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Summary and Outlook. Eur J Clin Nutr 57 (Suppl 2), S96–S100 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601908

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