Beliefs, myths and realities related to water consumption

Introduction. Water is essential for life, but the emergence of misinformation created doubts in the population. Objective. To determine the percentage of agreement and influence on fluid intake of misconceptions related to hydration argentine population. Material and methods. In this prospective, observational and transversal study, we conducted 1014 direct interviews, home, with a national coverage to individuals of both genders> 18 years of age. We applied a probabilistic sampling, multistage and stratified. Results. The 80% (95% CI: 75.8%-84.2%) of those interviewed agreed with the belief that "to care your heart, take water low in sodium". It was more prevalent in: women (p=0.0169), > 65 years (p=0.005), higher educational level (p=0.026) and middle socioeconomic status (p=0.019), Buenos Aires city (p=0.005) and Gran Buenos Aires (p= 0.000). The influence of this belief in fluid intake was 77% (95% CI: 72.8%-81.2%). The 62% (95% CI: 57.8%-66.2%) agreed with the belief " to take care that the kids do not get fat, you have to focus more on the food than the drink", mainly at the level education (p= 0.015) and lower socioeconomic (p=0.014). The influence on fluid intake was 74% (95% CI: 69.8%-78.2%). While the level of agreement was lower in " any beverage hydrates alike, do not need to drink water" (33%, 95% CI: 28.8%-37.2%), " you have to drink water only when thirst" (31%, 95% CI: 26.8%-35.2%), " drink water during meals hampers digestion" (27%, 95% CI: 22.8%-31.2%), the influence of fluid intake was high: 70% (95% CI: 65.8%-74.2%), 65% (95% CI: 60.8%-69.2%) and 60% (95% CI: 55.8%-64.2%), respectively. Conclusion. There was high agreement in only two beliefs, although five had an influence on fluid intake.