Water Consumption Pattern among Young Adults in a Higher Institution in Mubi Adamawa State

Abstract

Considering the injurious effects of hypohydration, a study on the water consumption pattern of young adult in a specified higher institution in Adamawa State was sought due to concerns on the low plain water consumption with the objectives of understanding the average daily consumption, as well as knowing contributors to total body fluid intake. A qualitative cross sectional sweep survey (CSSS) using simple random sampling (SRS) method was carried out, a pilot sturdy which achieved a cronback alpha of >0.7 reliability questionnaire was used to carry, while Conchrans formula was adopted to determine sample size N, which was 400. The result showed that majority of the respondents 176(44) were 21 years of age in their early adulthood, many, 187(46.75) used borehole water as their source of household water. Most of the respondents 272(69) agreed to drinking rain water. Some respondents 200(50) choose pure satchet water as their major source of drinking water, about half 200(50) of the respondents drink 1.5 L or less of water daily, while only 13(3.25) of the respondents drink 5-6 L/day of water, on the average. Most of the respondents 174(43.3) take orange as their most commonly consumed fruit, taking a maximum of 4 oranges per day, 160(40) of the respondents eat apple as their most commonly consumed fruit, with a maximum of one apple a day both apples and oranges give 87% fluid of their total weight. Some respondents 40(10) attested to being diabetic, with 13(3.26) of them agreeing to consuming alcohol, 377(94.25) confirmed they drink at least a bottle of carbonated drink daily. The study reveals that most young adults (21-25 years of age) in the sturdy area drink below the recommended daily requirement for water therefore, intervention as well as public enlightenment is required to encourage good water consumption pattern among young adults.