American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 62, 338-344, Copyright © 1995 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Dietary energy requirements of young and older women determined by using the doubly labeled water method

AL Sawaya, E Saltzman, P Fuss, VR Young and SB Roberts
Energy Metabolism Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA.

There is little information on the effects of age on energy requirements in women. This issue was investigated in a cross-sectional study of 10 normal-weight young women aged 25.2 +/- 1.1 y (mean +/- SEM) and 10 normal-weight older women aged 74.0 +/- 1.4 y. In a 9-d study, measurements were made of free-living total energy expenditure (TEE) by using the doubly labeled water technique, body composition by using hydrodensitometry, and resting energy expenditure (REE) by using indirect calorimetry. Mean values for reported levels of strenuous activity were within the expected range in both groups (31 +/- 13 min/d in the young group and 7 +/- 2 min/d in the older group). Energy requirements expressed as the ratio of TEE to REE were 1.80 +/- 0.10 and 1.62 +/- 0.06 (P < 0.01) in the young and older group, respectively. When values for REE predicted from body weight (pREE) were used, as suggested in the current recommended dietary allowances (RDAs), the ratios of TEE to pREE in the two groups were 1.85 +/- 0.10 and 1.54 +/- 0.04 (P < 0.05). The RDAs significantly under-predicted the energy requirements of the young group (P < 0.05), but there was no significant underprediction in the older group. Although obtained in a relatively small number of subjects, these results provide no evidence to indicate that the current RDAs underestimate the energy requirements of older women, in contrast with previous observations of an underestimation of energy requirements by the RDAs in older men.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. L. Johannsen, J. P. DeLany, M. I. Frisard, M. A. Welsch, C. K. Rowley, X. Fang, S. M. Jazwinski, E. Ravussin, and The Louisiana Healthy Aging Study Physical activity in aging: Comparison among young, aged, and nonagenarian individuals J Appl Physiol, August 1, 2008; 105(2): 495 - 501. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. B. Roberts and I. Rosenberg Nutrition and Aging: Changes in the Regulation of Energy Metabolism With Aging Physiol Rev, April 1, 2006; 86(2): 651 - 667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. P. Jones, R. E. Van Pelt, D. G. Johnson, and D. R. Seals Role of Sympathetic Neural Activation in Age- and Habitual Exercise-Related Differences in the Thermic Effect of Food J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2004; 89(10): 5138 - 5144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. K. Das, E. Saltzman, M. A. McCrory, L. K. G. Hsu, S. A. Shikora, G. Dolnikowski, J. J. Kehayias, and S. B. Roberts Energy Expenditure Is Very High in Extremely Obese Women J. Nutr., June 1, 2004; 134(6): 1412 - 1416. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Blanc, D. A Schoeller, D. Bauer, M. E Danielson, F. Tylavsky, E. M Simonsick, T. B Harris, S. B Kritchevsky, and J. E Everhart Energy requirements in the eighth decade of life Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, February 1, 2004; 79(2): 303 - 310. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. F Butte, M. S Treuth, N. R Mehta, W. W Wong, J. M Hopkinson, and E O'B. Smith Energy requirements of women of reproductive age Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, March 1, 2003; 77(3): 630 - 638. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Blanc, A. S. Colligan, J. Trabulsi, T. Harris, J. E. Everhart, D. Bauer, and D. A. Schoeller Influence of delayed isotopic equilibration in urine on the accuracy of the 2H218O method in the elderly J Appl Physiol, March 1, 2002; 92(3): 1036 - 1044. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. G Vinken, G. P Bathalon, A. L Sawaya, G. E Dallal, K. L Tucker, and S. B Roberts Equations for predicting the energy requirements of healthy adults aged 18–81 y Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, May 1, 1999; 69(5): 920 - 926. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. D. Starling, M. J. Toth, W. H. Carpenter, D. E. Matthews, and E. T. Poehlman Energy requirements and physical activity in free-living older women and men: a doubly labeled water study J Appl Physiol, September 1, 1998; 85(3): 1063 - 1069. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. T. Withers, D. A. Smith, R. C. Tucker, M. Brinkman, and D. G. Clark Energy metabolism in sedentary and active 49- to 70-yr-old women J Appl Physiol, April 1, 1998; 84(4): 1333 - 1340. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]