title: Total energy expenditure and body composition in early infancy.
abstract: In adults greater energy expenditure, primarily on physical activity, is associated with greater leanness. Such an association has proved more difficult to demonstrate in infants, partly due to the difficulty of measuring fatness and free living energy expenditure in this age group. Stable isotope techniques now make such investigations more viable.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The relationship between body composition and energy expenditure was investigated in 12 week infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Total energy expenditure and fat mass were estimated using the doubly labelled water technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  92 normal healthy infants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fat mass was correlated with both triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses (p < 0.001). After controlling for body size, age was a significant predictor of fat mass (p = 0.003), whereas total energy expenditure was not (p = 0.463).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cross sectional link between activity level and fatness in young infants, reported previously, does not persist when energy expenditure is considered.
authors.affiliation: Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003903:Deuterium; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D012885:Skinfold Thickness
chemical_list: D010103:Oxygen Isotopes; D003903:Deuterium