Ec. Rush et al., Energy expenditure of young Polynesian and European women in New Zealand and relations to body composition, AM J CLIN N, 69(1), 1999, pp. 43-48
Background: Reduced energy expenditure and excessive energy intake have bee
n hypothesized to cause obesity. New Zealanders of Polynesian origin have a
higher prevalence of obesity than do those of European origin.
Objective: We investigated relations between components of energy expenditu
re and body composition.
Design: We measured total energy expenditure (TEE) and resting metabolic ra
te (RMR) in 80 young women [40 New Zealand (NZ) Polynesian and 40 NZ Europe
an] aged 18-27 y by the doubly labeled water method and indirect calorimetr
y, respectively. Each group was partitioned into nonobese and obese on the
basis of percentage body fat.
Results: TEE and body weight were highly correlated in nonobese NZ European
s (n = 23, r = 0.76, P < 0.001), obese NZ Europeans (r = 0.58, P = 0.016),
and nonobese NZ Polynesians (n = 25, r = 0.59, P = 0.002) but not in obese
NZ Polynesians (r = 0.11, P = 0.70). Activity energy expenditure (AEE = TEE
- RMR) was similar in obese Polynesians and Europeans ((x) over bar +/- SD
: 5.5 +/- 2.2 and 5.2 +/- 1.9 MJ/d, respectively), but significantly higher
in nonobese Polynesians (5.7 +/- 2.5 MJ/d) than in their European counterp
arts (3.8 +/- 1.9 MJ/d, P = 0.005). Similar trends were seen when AEE adjus
ted for body weight and TEE/RMR were compared among the subgroups. Body wei
ght and RMR together accounted for 66% of the Variation in TEE for the Euro
pean group but only 17% for the Polynesian group.
Conclusion: Care should be taken in applying "Caucasian norms" relating to
energy expenditure to NZ Polynesian people.