title: Predicting basal metabolic rates in Malaysian adult elite athletes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to measure the basal metabolic rate (BMR) of elite athletes and develop a gender specific predictive equation to estimate their energy requirements.
  
  
  METHODS
  92 men and 33 women (aged 18-31 years) from 15 sports, who had been training six hours daily for at least one year, were included in the study. Body composition was measured using the bioimpedance technique, and BMR by indirect calorimetry. The differences between measured and estimated BMR using various predictive equations were calculated. The novel equation derived from stepwise multiple regression was evaluated using Bland and Altman analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The predictive equations of Cunningham and the Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization/United Nations University either over- or underestimated the measured BMR by up to ± 6%, while the equations of Ismail et al, developed from the local non-athletic population, underestimated the measured BMR by 14%. The novel predictive equation for the BMR of athletes was BMR (kcal/day) = 669 + 13 (weight in kg) + 192 (gender: 1 for men and 0 for women) (R2 0.548; standard error of estimates 163 kcal). Predicted BMRs of elite athletes by this equation were within 1.2% ± 9.5% of the measured BMR values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The novel predictive equation presented in this study can be used to calculate BMR for adult Malaysian elite athletes. Further studies may be required to validate its predictive capabilities for other sports, nationalities and age groups.
authors.affiliation: Physical Activity and Energy Metabolism Research Group, School of Healthcare Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Jyh Eiin
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Bee Koon
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Poh
authors.forename: Safii
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nik Shanita
authors.forename: Mohd Mohamad
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Izham
authors.forename: Kai Quin
authors.initials: KQ
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Meng De
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.forename: Wei Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Mohd Noor
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ismail
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D056352:Athletes; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D001823:Body Composition; D001835:Body Weight; D002153:Calorimetry, Indirect; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013177:Sports; D055815:Young Adult