Influence Of Workday Fluid Consumption On Renal And Cardiovascular Measures In Elementary Teachers

Previous data from our lab suggests that elementary school teachers consume inadequate amounts of fluid during the workday as they have limited restroom access. Inadequate fluid consumption promotes renal and cardiovascular complications. PURPOSE: To characterize daily fluid consumption and health measures of elementary school teachers throughout the workday. METHODS: 29 elementary school teachers were analyzed (28 Female, 1 Male) (age 34 ± 8.9). Pre- and post-school day anthropometrics, vitals, and urine samples were collected, and heart rate (HR) was monitored throughout the school day. Fluid consumption was self-recorded. Urine samples were analyzed for urine-specific gravity (USG), creatinine, and lipocalin-2. Data was analyzed using paired samples t-test for time within groups (pre-post) and independent t-test for between groups at an α of p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The sample means of BF% was 38.1 ± 1.97%, water consumption was 24.4 ± 4.1 (oz), total fluid consumption was 35.7 ± 3.7 (oz), and post-USG was 1.02 ± .002. Average HR throughout the workday was 90 ± 8.9 bpm, and a mean HR peak of 69.5 ± .05% of the calculated HR max was observed. Pre-workday HR (78.0 ± 1.751 bpm) was statistically higher than the lowest values throughout the day (69.45 ± 1.78 bpm) (p < 0.001). Pre-creatinine levels were significantly higher (216.8 ± 117.4 mg/dL) than Post for all teachers (164.2 ± 94.4 mg/dL) (p = 0.024). Lipocalin-2 and USG did not significantly change between pre- and post-measures. ΔUSG is strongly, inversely correlated with Δ Creatinine (-0.860) (p < 0.001), but Δlipocalin-2 and water consumption were not correlated. CONCLUSION: These results provide a characterization of changes to health measures during a workday in elementary teachers. Increases in self-reported fluid consumption tend to decrease creatinine levels but do not affect USG and Lipocalin-2. Based on HR, the participants appeared to be physically active throughout the day but were mostly overweight. Future research will explore explanations for these findings.