Marginal malnutrition in school-aged Colombian boys: body size and energy costs of walking and light load carrying.

The energy expenditure of 93 Colombian boys 6-16 years of age and 10 adult American males was measured while walking on a treadmill at 3 mph and 0, 4, 8 and 12 per cent grades without and with backpack loads of 3 (6-8 year), 6 (10-12 year) and 9 kg (14-16 year and adults). The boys were also divided into nutritionally normal and marginally malnourished, based on their weight-for-age and weight-for-height. The primary dependency of energy expenditure on body weight or body weight plus load was not affected by nutritional status, and the results of both adults and control and undernourished children fell on the same straight line at a given treadmill grade, indicating that the undernourished subjects would expend the same energy as nutritionally normal boys and adult subjects for a given load carried. The undernourished boys worked at a higher percentage VO2 max than control subjects when load carrying.