Accurate Determination of Energy Needs in Children and Adolescents With Cancer

Abstract

Studies on children with cancer have suggested that energy expenditure may indeed be greater than predicted for healthy children. Nutritional assessment is important for intervention and for the prevention of complications associated with malnutrition. The present study aimed to describe the nutritional status, energy expenditure, and substrate utilization of children and adolescents with cancer compared to healthy children matched for age, sex, and body mass index. Subjects were evaluated by anthropometry, food intake pattern, and body composition analysis. Energy expenditure and substrate oxidation were measured by indirect calorimetry. Indirect calorimetry data, energy, and macronutrient intake, anthropometry, and body composition parameters showed no significant differences between groups. There was no evidence of increased energy expenditure or of a change in substrate utilization in children with cancer compared to the healthy group. The data regarding usual food consumption showed no significant differences between groups.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to state that the coauthors have contributed to the conception and design of the study, generation, collection, assembly, analysis, and interpretation of data, and to the revision and final version of the manuscript. There was no financial support. The authors do not have an association that might pose a conflict of interest.

Notes

*P < 0.05.