Basal Metabolism of Normal Children

Abstract

In the past few years there have been many studies of the basal metabolism of children, and a useful set of charts has been published by Talbot1 showing the normal standards for the metabolism of children. He stated, however, that "the metabolism during puberty will have to be studied further before any standards may be accepted."The question of the basal metabolism just prior to, during and just after puberty has not been settled. Older investigators believed that there is a rise in basal metabolism in the prepubescent period. This belief was supported by DuBois2 who made a study of the basal metabolism of some boy scouts just before puberty. These boys were again studied after puberty had been established,3 and their metabolism had fallen from 25 to 11 per cent above that of adults. Benedict and Talbot4 in a few observations at this period found no such increase, but they admitted that their experiences were not sufficient to warrant a definite conclusion. We quote Du Bois 5 who said : "Personally I believe that there is a rise in basal metabolism before puberty with a subsequent fall ; but the proof will come only when a number of indi¬ vidual boys and girls are studied every year, or better, every six months between the ages of 10 and 16 years."A study similar to that suggested by Du Bois has been in progress at this clinic for the past four years. The changing population of the neighborhood in which our hospital is located makes it increasingly

Measured Resting Energy Expenditure in Children

“…mates in the comparison of a small numb er of healthy subjects ages 6.8-37 years. Earl y studies of BMR and pub erty suggested an incre ase in BMR during prepuberty and puberty (26). Bandini et al (2 1) documented better correlation between BMR and fat-fre e body mass by adding the Tanner developmental stage.…”

Nutritional Requirements of Adolescence

“…50-100 100--100 4-7 2.0-3.0 2.5-5.0 1.5-2.5 0.05-0.2 0.05 -0.2 0.15-0.5 900-2700 1525-4575 1400-4200 gram total weight is highest during pubescence, reaches it peak for the decade when the pubertal growth spurt is at its maximum, and declines thereafter (Topper and Mulier 1932;Johnston 1953;Eichorn 1955;Wang, Kaucher and Wong 1936;. However, since the lean body mass increases over the same interval on the basis of energy needs per day requirements for resting metabolism rise on a population basis from ages 10-20 and then stabilize until age 20.…”

Does menarche mark a period of elevated resting metabolic rate?

“…Finally, because of known pubertal changes in growth velocity and hormone concentrations (28), an effect of puberty on metabolic rate has been hypothesized. Among the studies (4,5,7,8,10,30,32,44,46,47) that have examined a relationship with pubertal maturation, the findings are inconsistent. Most of these studies have been cross-sectional and used Tanner staging (45) to gauge pubertal maturation, and many have presented combined results for boys and girls.…”