How does body weight affect total water content?

How does body weight affect total water content?

• A. Total water content is independent of body fat.
• B. Muscle content determines water content, not fat.
• C. More fat in the body leads to less total water content.
• D. More fat increases water content.

Answer: (C)

Total body water is tied to lean tissue, especially muscle, which contains a lot of water (about 60–70%). Fat tissue contains much less water (roughly 10–20%). So when fat makes up a larger share of body mass, the proportion of body weight that is water decreases. In other words, more fat leads to less total water content relative to total body weight. (Note: absolute TBW tends to track lean mass more than fat mass.)

Total body water is tied to lean tissue, especially muscle, which contains a lot of water (about 60–70%). Fat tissue contains much less water (roughly 10–20%). So when fat makes up a larger share of body mass, the proportion of body weight that is water decreases. In other words, more fat leads to less total water content relative to total body weight. (Note: absolute TBW tends to track lean mass more than fat mass.)