Total Energy Expenditure in Obese Kuwaiti Primary School Children Assessed by the Doubly-Labeled Water Technique

Lena Davidsson, Jameela Al-Ghanim, Tareq Al-Ati, Nawal Al-Hamad, Anwar Al-Mutairi, Lulwa Al-Olayan and Thomas Preston
Additional contact information
Lena Davidsson: Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Jameela Al-Ghanim: Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Tareq Al-Ati: Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Nawal Al-Hamad: The Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, Bayan 43600, Kuwait
Anwar Al-Mutairi: Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Lulwa Al-Olayan: Food and Nutrition Program, Environment and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
Thomas Preston: Stable Isotope Biochemistry Laboratory, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow G75 0QF, UK

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-11

Abstract: The aim of this pilot study was to assess body composition and total energy expenditure (TEE) in 35 obese 7–9 years old Kuwaiti children (18 girls and 17 boys). Total body water (TBW) and TEE were assessed by doubly-labeled water technique. TBW was derived from the intercept of the elimination rate of deuterium and TEE from the difference in elimination rates of 18 O and deuterium. TBW was used to estimate fat-free mass (FFM), using hydration factors for different ages and gender. Fat mass (FM) was calculated as the difference between body weight and FFM. Body weight was not statistically different but TBW was significantly higher ( p = 0.018) in boys (44.9% ± 3.3%) than girls (42.4% ± 3.0%), while girls had significantly higher estimated FM (45.2 ± 3.9 weight % versus 41.6% ± 4.3%; p = 0.014). TEE was significantly higher in boys (2395 ± 349 kcal/day) compared with girls (1978 ± 169 kcal/day); p = 0.001. Estimated physical activity level (PAL) was significantly higher in boys; 1.61 ± 0.167 versus 1.51 ± 0.870; p = 0.034. Our results provide the first dataset of TEE in 7–9 years old obese Kuwaiti children and highlight important gender differences to be considered during the development of school based interventions targeted to combat childhood obesity.

Keywords: total energy expenditure; body composition; obesity; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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