Ww. Wong et al., ARE BASAL METABOLIC-RATE PREDICTION EQUATIONS APPROPRIATE FOR FEMALE-CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS, Journal of applied physiology, 81(6), 1996, pp. 2407-2414
The basal metabolic rate (BMR), which accounts for 50-70% of total ene
rgy expenditure, is essential for estimation of patient and population
energy needs. Numerous equations have been formulated for prediction
of human BMR. Most equations in current use are based on measurements
of Caucasians performed more than four decades ago. We evaluated 10 pr
ediction equations commonly used for estimation of BMR in 76 Caucasian
and 42 African-American girls between 8 and 17 yr of age against BMR
measured by whole-body calorimetry. The majority of the prediction equ
ations (9 of 10) overestimated BMR by 60 +/- 46 kcal/day (range, 15-17
6 kcal/day). This overestimation was found to be significantly greater
(P < 0.05) for African-Americans (77 +/- 17 kcal/day) than for Caucas
ians (25 +/- 17 kcal/day) in six equations, controlling for age, weigh
t, and sexual maturity. We conclude that ethnicity is an important fac
tor in estimation of the BMR and that the current prediction equations
are not appropriate for accurate estimation of the BMR of individual
female children and adolescents.