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Resting energy expenditure in short-stature children

Yukiko Nishimoto1, Shinobu Ida, Yuri Etani

  • 1Department of Nutrition, Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Izumi 594-1101, Japan. nisimoto@mch.pref.osaka.jp

Endocrine Journal
|January 11, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Children with short stature have higher resting energy requirements (REE) than typically growing children. Current dietary intake standards may underestimate their actual energy needs, suggesting a need for adjusted nutritional guidelines.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Nutritional Science
  • Human Physiology

Background:

  • Establishing appropriate dietary intake standards for children with abnormal body size, particularly short stature, remains unclear.
  • Children with short stature often present unique physiological characteristics that may influence their energy requirements.
  • Current dietary reference intakes may not accurately reflect the metabolic needs of children with short stature.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the energy requirements of prepubertal children with short stature and no underlying diseases.
  • To compare the resting energy requirements (REE) of short-stature children with those of age-matched children of standard stature.
  • To evaluate the adequacy of current dietary reference intakes for children with short stature.

Main Methods:

  • Measured resting energy requirements (REE) using indirect calorimetry in 30 prepubertal children with short stature and 13 age-matched controls.
  • Assessed fasting REE and respiration quotient (RQ) in a supine position via canopy indirect calorimetry.
  • Compared actual and body-size-adjusted REEs between groups and against calculated basal metabolic rate (BMR) using Japanese Dietary Reference Intakes.

Main Results:

  • Actual REE was significantly higher in the control group compared to the short-stature group.
  • Body-size-adjusted REEs were significantly higher in the short-stature group.
  • Actual REE measurements were significantly higher than calculated BMR in the short-stature group, but not in the control group.

Conclusions:

  • Children with short stature exhibit higher body-size-adjusted energy requirements than typically growing children.
  • Current dietary reference intakes may underestimate the energy needs of children with short stature.
  • Further research is needed to establish tailored dietary guidelines for pediatric short stature.

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