Abstract
Objective
Low levels of daily energy expenditure (insufficient physical activity and increased
sedentary time) have been associated with adverse health outcomes in young people.
The Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents (MARCA) is a computerized,
self-report, use-of-time tool that can assess daily energy expenditure. The study
aim was to validate the MARCA for the estimation of energy expenditure in young people,
using the criterion standard doubly labeled water.
Materials/Methods
Over a 15 day assessment period, 32 participants (10–18 years) completed the MARCA and underwent a doubly labeled water protocol. Indirect
calorimetry was used to assess resting metabolic rate. Total daily energy expenditure
(TEE) and activity-related energy expenditure (AEE) were estimated from both the MARCA
and doubly labeled water. Association and agreement between methods for TEE and AEE
were assessed using Spearman correlations and Bland–Altman plots, respectively.
Results
Compared to doubly labeled water, the MARCA over-estimated TEE by an average of 50 kcal/day (limits of agreement −1 589 to 1 490 kcal/day) and under-estimated AEE 105 kcal/day (limits of agreement −1 404 to 1 614 kcal/day). The MARCA showed strong correlation with doubly labeled water for TEE (rho=0.70, p<0.0001) and moderate correlation for AEE (rho=0.56, p=0.0009).
Conclusions
Overall, the MARCA indicated moderate validity for the assessment of daily TEE and
AEE. The wide limits of agreement indicate the MARCA has greater utility for group-level
rather than individual-level estimates.
Abbreviations:
AEE (activity-related energy expenditure), DLW (doubly labeled water), MARCA (Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents), MET (Metabolic Equivalent), PAL (Physical Activity Level), SD (standard deviation), TEE (total daily energy expenditure)Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 13, 2012
Accepted:
July 26,
2012
Received:
May 30,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
