**3.3. Food consumption**

Consumption of food was expressed per 100 g of body weight. Control animals consumed an average of 4.5 g/day of food. There was a significant (p < 0.01) decrease of food intake in the Cd-exposed group (2.54 ± 0.2 g daily). Food intake of the water deprived groups was similar to that of the controls. When water deprivation was combined with Cd exposure, the decrease in food intake became larger and statistically significant compared with both control (p < 0.01) and Cd-exposed groups (p<0.05).
