Soares M J, Shetty P S
Department of Physiology, St John's Medical College, Bangalore, India.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 1991 Jul;45(7):363-73.
Basal metabolic rates (BMR) and body composition were measured in 130 adult Indian males, selected from three socio-economic groups. Results show a significantly lower BMR in the chronically undernourished, with a greater dependence on carbohydrate as fuel in the fasted state. When expressed as per kg body weight or kg fat-free mass (FFM), the BMRs are significantly higher in these individuals. The latter observations suggest variations in the contribution of viscera and skeletal muscle to the FFM, with a relatively greater visceral to muscle mass ratio. However, on adjustment for differences in weight and FFM by means of an analysis of covariance, the chronically undernourished (both urban and rural) have significantly lower BMRs. This indicates a 'metabolic economy' in these individuals, which could be attributable in part to their significantly lower serum T3 levels. When the subjects are classified on the basis of grades of chronic energy deficiency (CED), individuals with low body mass index (BMI) (less than 17 and below) are not similar in their basal metabolism. Those individuals from good socio-economic backgrounds with access to ad libitum energy and protein intake but with low BMI have comparable BMRs to the well nourished. It may therefore be unwise to classify all individuals with low BMI 'across the board' as suffering from CED. Socio-economic scaling may be a useful addition to the present classification of CED.
对从三个社会经济群体中选取的130名成年印度男性进行了基础代谢率（BMR）和身体成分测量。结果显示，长期营养不良者的基础代谢率显著较低，在禁食状态下对碳水化合物作为燃料的依赖性更强。当以每千克体重或每千克去脂体重（FFM）表示时，这些人的基础代谢率显著更高。后一种观察结果表明，内脏和骨骼肌对去脂体重的贡献存在差异，内脏与肌肉质量比相对更高。然而，通过协方差分析对体重和去脂体重差异进行调整后，长期营养不良者（包括城市和农村）的基础代谢率显著更低。这表明这些人存在“代谢节约”现象，这可能部分归因于他们显著较低的血清T3水平。当根据慢性能量缺乏（CED）等级对受试者进行分类时，体重指数（BMI）低（小于17及以下）的个体在基础代谢方面并不相同。那些来自良好社会经济背景、能够自由获取能量和蛋白质摄入但BMI低的个体，其基础代谢率与营养良好者相当。因此，将所有BMI低的个体“一概而论”地归类为患有CED可能是不明智的。社会经济分级可能是目前CED分类的一个有益补充。
