Abstract
This study tests the hypothesis that equations to predict basal metabolic rate (BMR) of adolescent boys may be made more accurate by using a measure of pubertal maturity (testicular volume, TV). Eighty-six male volunteers aged 11·8-13·7 years were studied. There was a wide range of pubertal development within the subject group, ranging from mean TV of 3 to 22-5 ml. BMR was found to correlate more highly with TV (r = 0·519) than height (r = 0·425) or age (r = 0 272). BMR predicted using the World Health Organization equations (based on height and weight) were significantly higher than measured BMR in early pubertal boys (TV ≤ 4 ml, BMR (measured) = 5·04 ± 0·17, BMR (predicted) = 6·14 ±0·15 MJ/day, p <0·001, Student's t-test). The results provide evidence that measurement of testicular volume may increase the accuracy of equations for the prediction of BMR of adolescent boys.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 281-284 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Annals of Human Biology |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 1996 |
Keywords
- Adolescent
- Age Factors
- *Basal Metabolism
- Body Height
- Body Weight
- Child
- Humans
- Male
- Predictive Value of Tests
- Puberty/*metabolism
- Reproducibility of Results
- Testis/*anatomy & histology/*growth & development