EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF WEIR'S FORMULA FOR ESTIMATING METABOLIC RATE IN MAN.

One hundred and thirty determinations of metabolic rate at rest and during both steady and unsteady states of exercise have been made in human subjects. Calculation of the caloric expenditure by means of Weir's formula, by the Zuntz-Schumburg-Lusk table, and by the Cathcart-Cuthbertson table has revealed mean differences among these methods of less than 1%. The Weir formula may be utilized for all practical purposes in lieu of the tables, permitting elimination of the RQ correction factor, and thus simplifying the estimation of the energy cost of activity caloric expenditure; determination of metabolism; formula for caloric expenditure; steady-state, caloric measurement; unsteady-state, caloric measurement Submitted on December 16, 1963