Functional Relationships between Body Composition, Energy Expenditure and Daily Food Intake
Principal Investigator
Name
Mark Hopkins
Degrees
Ph.D., MSc., BSc.
Institution
University of Leeds
Position Title
Lecturer
Email
About this CDAS Project
Study
IDATA
(Learn more about this study)
Project ID
IDATA-23
Initial CDAS Request Approval
Aug 6, 2018
Title
Functional Relationships between Body Composition, Energy Expenditure and Daily Food Intake
Summary
Whether the demand for energy arising from the biological processes and behavioural activities of daily living
exert influence on daily feeding patterns is a fundamental, yet unresolved, issue in humans. While it is intuitive
to speculate that food intake is driven by energy turnover, evidence linking total daily energy expenditure and its
determinants (e.g. body composition & activity-related energy expenditure) to day-to-day food intake is limited.
Difficulties in obtaining precise and accurate measures of daily energy expenditure and intake have limited our
understanding, and there is a clear need to examine the relationship between energy expenditure and energy
intake under free-living conditions using gold-standard measurement techniques. Emerging evidence also
suggests that the coupling between energy expenditure and intake is stronger in those with high habitual
physical activity levels, but studies typically use self-reported estimates of food intake and/or physical activity.
The use doubly labelled water in the IDATA study, which can be used to estimate total daily energy expenditure
and total daily energy intake, provides an ideal opportunity to examine how total daily energy expenditure and
its components influence energy intake in large sample of free-living individuals. Therefore, the proposed study
will examine the functional associations between body composition (deuterium dilution), total daily energy
expenditure (doubly labelled water), physical activity (accelerometry) and energy intake (intake balance
method). These findings are relevant for understanding the processes underlying the regulation of appetite and
energy balance.
exert influence on daily feeding patterns is a fundamental, yet unresolved, issue in humans. While it is intuitive
to speculate that food intake is driven by energy turnover, evidence linking total daily energy expenditure and its
determinants (e.g. body composition & activity-related energy expenditure) to day-to-day food intake is limited.
Difficulties in obtaining precise and accurate measures of daily energy expenditure and intake have limited our
understanding, and there is a clear need to examine the relationship between energy expenditure and energy
intake under free-living conditions using gold-standard measurement techniques. Emerging evidence also
suggests that the coupling between energy expenditure and intake is stronger in those with high habitual
physical activity levels, but studies typically use self-reported estimates of food intake and/or physical activity.
The use doubly labelled water in the IDATA study, which can be used to estimate total daily energy expenditure
and total daily energy intake, provides an ideal opportunity to examine how total daily energy expenditure and
its components influence energy intake in large sample of free-living individuals. Therefore, the proposed study
will examine the functional associations between body composition (deuterium dilution), total daily energy
expenditure (doubly labelled water), physical activity (accelerometry) and energy intake (intake balance
method). These findings are relevant for understanding the processes underlying the regulation of appetite and
energy balance.
Aims
1) Examine whether body composition (fat mass or fat-free mass), physical activity/sedentary behaviour or total
daily energy expenditure are determinants of daily energy intake under free-living conditions.
2) Examine whether physical activity or sedentary behaviour moderates the relationship between energy intake,
body composition and total daily energy expenditure.
Collaborators
Dr Kristine Beaulieu - University of Leeds, UK
Prof Graham Finlayson - University of Leeds, UK
Prof James Stubbs - University of Leeds, UK