Water makes up over half the weight of an adult body, and rather more of an infant's.

What it means

The share varies with age, sex and body composition, because fat holds much less water than muscle does. A newborn can be around three quarters water, an adult man closer to sixty percent and an adult woman a little lower. The brain and kidneys are among the wettest organs and bone among the driest, at roughly a third.

The claim comes from U.S. Geological Survey, and the page it comes from was read on 2026-08-27 to confirm it still says this.

This is not the kind of claim that goes out of date, which is why it was set as a puzzle rather than a fact with a shelf life.

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