PREDICTION OF THE BASAL METABOLISM OF YOUTH. 205 



in the Harris and Benedict study, the partial correlation between 

 weight and stature corrected for constant age was for 136 men 0.5772, 

 while for 103 women it was but 0.2995. 1 This alone shows that with 

 the women the correlation between height and weight was considerably 

 lower than with the men, thus indicating greater irregularity in physical 

 configuration and departure from an average. 



PRACTICAL VALUE OF THE PREDICTION OF BASAL METABOLISM. 



Prediction factors are of importance in that it is highly desirable, 

 particularly in clinical work, to have some conception of the general 

 trend of the metabolism of children of a definite age or weight. We 

 believe that we have sufficiently emphasized in all of our charts that 

 the scatter or dispersal of the individual points is so great as to necessi- 

 tate great caution in considering that any particular normal child 

 may indicate a fixed normal metabolism, to which all other normal 

 children of the same age, sex, height, and weight should conform. 

 This is far from the case. 



But if due cognizance is taken of the probable deviations from the 

 general trend, the curves for total calories referred to body-weight and 

 total calories referred to body-surface may be considered as distinctly 

 helpful in indicating whether or not there is great diversity from the 

 general trend with children having any particular configuration or 

 any particular illness, or subsisting upon any dietetic regime or nutri- 

 tional plane, or with any physiological change affecting the group. 



As will be seen, the emphasis in this discussion is laid upon the 

 group. It is clear from the most cursory examination of our several 

 charts that the individual child may vary greatly from the average, 

 and hence it is only with extreme caution that deviation may be 

 interpreted as being of pathological or abnormal nature with any 

 individual child. If special conditions of diet, life, or pathological 

 development are to be studied, it must be clearly established that the 

 special conditions result in the deviation from the general trend in a 

 considerable number of instances or a group. With these cautions 

 in mind, we may suggest that the curves given in figures 26 and 27 

 may be used directly for predicting the most probable basal metab- 

 olism of a quiet, resting boy or girl. 



To assist clinicians in rapid estimations of these predictions, we have 

 prepared a table (table 36) giving the most probable heat production 

 for each half kilogram of body-weight for both boys and girls. If the 

 weight of the boy or girl is known, the physician may thus read directly 

 from table 36 the predicted basal metabolism for a child of this weight 

 and compare it with the heat actually measured to note if the measured 

 values are aberrant in any way. Owing to the effort and time required 



1 Harris and Benedict, Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. No. 279, 1919, p. 59, table 12. 



