Authors

John R. Speakman, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology
Jasper M.A. de Jong, Yale School of Medicine
Srishti Sinha, St. John's National Academy Of Health Sciences India
Klaas R. Westerterp, Universiteit Maastricht
Yosuke Yamada, National Institute of Health and Nutrition
Hiroyuki Sagayama, University of Tsukuba
Philip N. Ainslie, Liverpool John Moores University
Liam J. Anderson, University of Birmingham
Lenore Arab, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Kweku Bedu-Addo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
Stephane Blanc, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Alberto G. Bonomi, Philips Research
Pascal Bovet, Centre Universitaire de Médecine Générale et Santé Publique, Lausanne
Soren Brage, MRC Epidemiology Unit
Maciej S. Buchowski, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nancy F. Butte, Baylor College of Medicine
Stefan G.J.A. Camps, Universiteit Maastricht
Jamie A. Cooper, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Richard Cooper, Loyola University Chicago
Sai Krupa Das, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging
Peter S.W. Davies, The University of Queensland
Lara R. Dugas, Loyola University Chicago
Ulf Ekelund, Norges Idrettshøgskole
Sonja Entringer, Berliner Institut für Gesundheitsforschung
Terrence Forrester, The University of the West Indies
Barry W. Fudge, University of Glasgow
Melanie Gillingham, Oregon Health & Science University
Santu Ghosh, St. John's National Academy Of Health Sciences India
Annelies H. Goris, OnePlanet Research Center imec-the Netherlands
Michael Gurven, University of California, Santa Barbara
Lewis G. Halsey, University of Roehampton
Catherine Hambly, University of Aberdeen
Hinke H. Haisma, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2023

Abstract

Obesity is caused by a prolonged positive energy balance1,2. Whether reduced energy expenditure stemming from reduced activity levels contributes is debated3,4. 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.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Nature Metabolism

First Page

579

Last Page

588

Share

COinS