A University of Arkansas professor addressed Chinese scientists, physicians, academics and graduate students in May at a conference where new adequate intake guidelines for water were announced for the world's most populous country.

A nation of 1.35 billion people, compared to 304 million in the United States, China is working to update its nutrition guidelines in general, said Stavros Kavouras, assistant professor of exercise science. The Chinese Nutrition Society invited Kavouras and his mentor, Lawrence Armstrong, professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, to speak at the conference in Hangzhou City on May 15-17. They were the only two speakers invited to the conference who were not from China, and Kavouras also participated in the conference in 2011.

Kavouras earned his doctorate in 1997 from Connecticut, ranked the top kinesiology program in the United States by the National Academy of Kinesiology. A native of Greece, Kavouras formerly taught at Harokopio University in Athens.

An expert in the area of hydration assessment, Kavouras said the government of China's adequate intake nutrient guidelines are the equivalent of the dietary reference intakes (an extension of the guidelines formerly known as recommended dietary allowances) of nutrients set by the U.S. Institute of Medicine.

With a focus on dietary reference intakes, the annual conference in China facilitates information exchange on the absorption, metabolism, function, evaluation, requirement and safety of nutrients.

The Chinese Nutrition Society has surveyed Chinese people to assess how much water they consume and found the average amount is less than in the United States and more than in Europe, Kavouras said. He also noted that about 40 percent of the water taken in by Chinese people comes from food such as vegetables and soup, not solely liquid sources. In the United States, that amount is about 20 percent, he said.

Kavouras talked about ways people can determine whether they are drinking enough water for optimal health. He offered two primary takeaway messages to his audience at the conference: thirst is not the best way to determine if you are adequately hydrated and a simple urine color chart can be a useful tool for hydration assessment.

Research has shown that a person is already dehydrated to some extent by the time he feels thirsty, Kavouras explained.

"Thirst doesn't get activated before you're dehydrated," he said.

There are several hydration assessment techniques and they differ by how complex they are, Kavouras said. He talked about the theories behind them and whether they are best used by scientists, clinicians or the ordinary person. The urine color chart Armstrong developed in the 1990s that assesses hydration based on the color of urine is a simple method that is relatively easy to use, and Kavouras devoted some of his talk to the chart. Darker urine indicates dehydration.

Kavouras recently completed research with colleagues in Greece that shows the urine color chart is an effective tool for children to use in determining whether they are getting enough water.