Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Improving Strength, Power, Muscle Aerobic Capacity, and Glucose Tolerance through Short-term Progressive Strength Training Among Elderly People
Published on: July 5, 2017
Energy requirements and aging
Susan B Roberts1, Gerard E Dallal
1Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, 711 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111, USA. susan.roberts@tufts.edu
Objective:
To summarise the literature on energy requirements and aging.
Design:
An analysis and review of published data on components of energy expenditure and total energy expenditure (TEE).
Setting:
Data on basal metabolic rate (BMR) and TEE were obtained from the US Institute of Medicine of the National Academies database (all available data from studies published before 2001, collected from 20 researchers willing to provide individual subject results).
Subjects:
Those individuals from the database who were 20-100 years of age.
Results:
TEE and physical activity level (PAL, defined as the ratio of total to resting energy expenditure) declined progressively throughout adult life in both normal weight and overweight men and women. In normal weight individuals (defined as body mass index (BMI) 18.5-25.0 kg m(-2)) TEE fell by approximately 150 kcal per decade, and PAL fell from an average of 1.75 in the second decade of life to 1.28 in the ninth decade. Thermic effect of feeding data from other published studies indicated no consistent change associated with aging.
Conclusions:
Aging is associated with progressive declines in resting and TEE, which have implications for defining dietary energy requirements at different stages of adult life.
Related Concept Videos
01:19The Effect of Aging on Tissues
01:26Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
00:51Energy Budgets and Reproductive Strategies
01:37Mitochondria
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
01:29Bone Disorders
Bone deposition is also affected by the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone that promote osteoblast activity and bone matrix synthesis. When the level of these hormones decreases due to aging, it causes a reduction in bone deposition. As a result, bone resorption by osteoclasts...