OBJECTIVESTo investigate total drinking water intake of adults in the four cities of China in summer.

METHODSA total of 1483 adults aged 18 - 60 yrs from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou were selected using multiple-stage random sampling method. The information of amounts and types of daily drinking water was recorded by subjects for seven consecutive days using a quantitative measurement. The amounts and types of daily drinking water among different cities and between men and women or urban and rural was analyzed.

RESULTSThe median of daily total drinking water of subjects was 1488 ml, with significant difference among the four cities (1579, 1793, 1150, 1467 ml in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou city, respectively, χ(2) = 154.31, P = 0.000). The median of daily drinking water was significantly higher in men (1679 ml) than women (1370 ml) (Z = 8.34, P = 0.000), but no significant difference was found between urban (1514 ml) and rural (1466 ml) daily drinking water median (Z = -0.81, P = 0.420). The median of daily consumption of plain water, tea and beverages were 786, 109, 186 ml, respectively. Among four cities, the highest consumption of plain water was in subjects of Guangzhou (917 ml), while the highest tea consumption in Shanghai (257 ml) and the highest beverages consumption in Shanghai (323 ml) and Beijing (264 ml). Consumption of tea in men (229 ml) was significantly higher than that in women (57 ml) (Z = 7.52, P = 0.000). Subjects in urban (693 ml) had lower consumption of plain water than those in rural (914 ml). The proportion was 32.4% (480/1483) for subjects with water drinking less than 1200 ml per day.

CONCLUSIONThe daily consumption of total drinking water, including plain water, tea and beverages is different in adults among different cities and is different in gender and regions. It is nearly 1/3 of subjects with daily total drinking water less than current Chinese recommended water intake (1200 ml).