Basal Metabolic Rate in Man

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ESN: FAO/WHO/UNU

EPR/81/5

August 1981

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

THE UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY

Provisional Agenda Item 2.2.1

Joint FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation on

Energy and Protein Requirements

Rome, 5 to 17 October 1981

may be useful in perhaps clarifying some of the problems in adequately assessing the validity and the variability of experimental data.

Calorimetry in man, as its name implies, is the measurement of the heat emitted from the BASAL METABOLIC RATE IN MAN

by

J.V.G.A. Durnin

University of Glasgow

Glasgow

Scotland

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Mitchell (1962) has defined the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) in terms which, when considered precisely, would meet with general acceptance, but which have implications that are not often adjudged fully. “The basal metabolism of an animal is the minimal rate of energy expenditure compatible with life.” His definition represents the common view that basal metabolism reflects a fundamental biological property of the individual or the species and that if we can measure it accurately we are in possession of information of some importance. Since basal metabolism may well indicate an intrinsic property of the organism this is a theoretically justifiable opinion. Whether information on BMR is of practical value in the context of calculating energy requirements either of an individual or of a population is a complex question and the purpose of this article is to examine critically the various aspects of this problem.

One factor which may have considerable consequence is the variability between apparently similar individuals who might be expected to have uniform metabolic rates. If this variability is markedly inconsistent there may be great difficulty in utilizing BMR as a reference point for an individual unless that individual is separately measured; this is not normally desirable, since the purpose of a set of reference tables...