Total, resting, and physical activity related energy expenditure are similar in caucasian and african-american children. Sun, Min, Barbara A Gower, Tim R Nagy, Chris A Trowbridge, Carl Dezenberg, and Michael I Goran. Division of Physiology and Metabolism, Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
APStracts 4:0235E, 1997.
There is some evidence to suggest that ethnic differences in energy expenditure in adults may modulate different propensities for obesity. However, there is lack of data for the components of energy expenditure in young children of different ethnic backgrounds. In this study, we examined total energy expenditure (TEE), resting energy expenditure (REE), and physical activity-related energy expenditure (AEE) in healthy pre-pubertal Caucasian (18 girls, 21 boys) and African-American (29 girls, 30 boys) children. TEE was measured over 14 days under free-living conditions with the doubly labeled water technique, REE from indirect calorimetry after an overnight fast, and AEE was estimated from the difference between TEE and REE after reducing TEE by 10% to account for the thermic effect of feeding. Fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). There were no significant effects of ethnicity or gender on TEE after adjusting for FFM, or for FFM and FM. For REE, there was no effect of ethnicity, but a significant effect of gender, with a higher REE in boys after adjusting for FFM and FM (p < 0.001). For AEE, there were no significant effects of ethnicity or gender after adjusting for FFM, or for FFM and FM. In conclusion, ethnicity was not a significant determinant for any of the components of energy expenditure. TEE, REE, and AEE were similar in Caucasian and African-American prepubertal children after adjusting for FFM, or for FFM and FM. 

Received 25 July 1997; accepted in final form 17 October 1997.
APS Manuscript Number E348-7.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Endocrinol. Metab.).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1997 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 29 October 1997