478 



METABOLISM, NUTRITION, AND DIET 



of the rate of oxygen consumption, or carbon dioxide output, or both, as 

 an index of heat production. The rate of heat production and of heat 

 loss must, of course, be in balance in an animal of constant temperature, as 

 in man. For this reason the rate of metabolism varies not with mass, 

 as we would expect, but with the surface area. In man the unit used is 

 expressed as calories per square meter of surface per hour. Measured 

 at the minimal level this varies according to the following averages. 



TABLE OF BASAL METABOLIC RATES. 



Rate of Minimal Metabolism in Calories per Square Meter per Hour, Aub and DuBois, 

 Ages 12-13 from DuBois, Logs, from Boothby and Sandiford. 



The surface area for man is computed from the formula of DuBois in 



FIG. 3ioa. Height-weight Chart. 



which the area is in square meters, the weight in kilograms, and the height 

 in centimeters. 



