Resting energy expenditure in children and adolescents: agreement between calorimetry and prediction equations.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the degree of agreement between indirect calorimetry and five equations commonly used to predict resting energy expenditure (REE) in obese and non-obese children and adolescents.


METHODS
In 116 children and adolescents (57 obese and 59 non-obese) aged between 7.8 and 16.6 years, REE was measured (MREE) by open-circuit indirect calorimetry under standardized conditions. REE was predicted (PREE) in all subjects with equations from the Food and Agriculture/World Health Organization/United Nations University (FAO/WHO/UNU), Maffeis et al., Harris and Benedict, and two from Schofield: one using weight (W) and one using height and weight (H-W). Agreement between indirect calorimetry and equations was assessed following the Bland-Altman method.


RESULTS
In the entire cohort group, only data from FAO/WHO/UNU, Schofield-W and Schofield-HW equations showed non-statistic differences against calorimetry results. When agreement between equations and calorimetry was tested, Schofield-HW equation showed the lowest mean MREE-PREE difference: 3.7 kcal/d (limits of agreement -293 and 300 kcal/d; 95% confidence interval for the bias -24.0 to 31.5 kcal/d) and the best agreement. Group by group, equations which obtained the best agreement were: FAO/WHO/UNU in girls, Schofield-HW in boys, Schofield-HW in obese, and Schofield-W in non-obese.


CONCLUSIONS
Until more accurate prediction equations are developed, we recommend Schofield-HW equations for REE studies with a mixed population of obese and non-obese children and adolescents; however, FAO/WHO/UNU equation may also be useful in girls and Schofield-W equation in non-obese children.
Rodríguez
G
G
Departamento de Pediatría, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Moreno
L A
LA
Sarría
A
A
Fleta
J
J
Bueno
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002153:Calorimetry, Indirect; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism*; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results