Total daily energy expenditure has declined over the past three decades due to declining basal expenditure, not reduced activity expenditure.
John R SpeakmanJasper M A de JongSrishti SinhaKlaas R WesterterpYosuke YamadaHiroyuki SagayamaPhilip N AinslieLiam J AndersonLenore ArabKweku Bedu-AddoStephane BlancAlberto G BonomiPascal BovetSoren BrageMaciej S BuchowskiNancy F ButteStefan Gerardus CampsJamie A CooperRichard CooperSai Krupa DasPeter S W DaviesLara R DugasUlf EkelundSonja EntringerTerrence E ForresterBarry W FudgeMelanie GillinghamSantu GhoshAnnelies Hc GorisMichael D GurvenLewis G HalseyCatherine HamblyHinke H HaismaDaniel HoffmanSumei HuAnnemiek M JoosenJennifer L KaplanPeter Todd KatzmarzykWilliam E KrausRobert F KushnerWilliam R LeonardMarie LofCorby K MartinEric MatsikoAnine Christine MedinErwin P MeijerMarian L NeuhouserTheresa A NicklasRobert M OjiamboKirsi H PietiläinenJacob Plange-RhuleGuy PlasquiRoss L PrenticeSusan B RacetteDavid A RaichlenEric RavussinLeanne Maree RedmanSusan B RobertsMichael C RudolphLuis B SardinhaAlbertine J SchuitAnaliza Mónica SilvaEric SticeSamuel S UrlacherGiulio ValentiLudo M Van EttenEdgar A Van MilBrian M WoodJack A YanovskiTsukasa YoshidaXueying ZhangAlexia J Murphy-AlfordCornelia U LoechlAnura V KurpadAmy H LukeHerman PontzerMatthew S RodehefferJennifer C RoodDale A SchoellerWilliam W WongPublished in: Nature metabolism (2023)
Obesity is caused by a prolonged positive energy balance 1,2 . Whether reduced energy expenditure stemming from reduced activity levels contributes is debated 3,4 . Here we show that in both sexes, total energy expenditure (TEE) adjusted for body composition and age declined since the late 1980s, while adjusted activity energy expenditure increased over time. We use the International Atomic Energy Agency Doubly Labelled Water database on energy expenditure of adults in the United States and Europe (n = 4,799) to explore patterns in total (TEE: n = 4,799), basal (BEE: n = 1,432) and physical activity energy expenditure (n = 1,432) over time. In males, adjusted BEE decreased significantly, but in females this did not reach significance. A larger dataset of basal metabolic rate (equivalent to BEE) measurements of 9,912 adults across 163 studies spanning 100 years replicates the decline in BEE in both sexes. We conclude that increasing obesity in the United States/Europe has probably not been fuelled by reduced physical activity leading to lowered TEE. We identify here a decline in adjusted BEE as a previously unrecognized factor.