Robert C. Lewis

Standards for the basal metabolism of children from 2 to 15 years of age, inclusive

Summary Standards for the basal metabolism of children from 2 to 15 yearsold, inclusive, have been established on the basis of 1,007 determination on seventy normal, healthy boys and 718 determinations on fifty-seven normal, healthy girls. The methods of reference selected for the establishment of these standards are calories per hour per square meter referred to age and calories per hour referred to surface area, weight, and height, respectively. The first three methods have been chosen because of the relatively low degree of dispersion exhibited, and the latter is included because it has found wide use in the literature. Scatter diagrams constructed from the respective data are presented. The means for certain convenient arbitrary intervals, as well as the values for plus and minus two standard deviations from the mean, are indicated on these figures. The standards recorded in the tables are taken from the unbroken line curves drawn by inspection in each case to connect these means. A comparison between the standards herein reported and the results of certain studies of basal metabolism chosen from the literature because of their comprehensive nature is included. The importance of taking body size into consideration in the selection of standards to be used for the interpretation of the basal metabolism of any individual child is discussed.