Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty

Lewis G Halsey; Vincent Careau; Philip N Ainslie; Heliodoro Alemán-Mateo; Lene F Andersen; Liam J Anderson; Leonore Arab; Issad Baddou; Linda Bandini; Kweku Bedu-Addo; Ellen E Blaak; Stephane Blanc; Alberto G Bonomi; Carlijn V C Bouten; Pascal Bovet; Soren Brage; Maciej S Buchowski; Nancy Butte; Stephan G Camps; Regian Casper; Graeme L Close; Lisa H Colbert; Jamie A Cooper; Richard Cooper; Prasangi Dabare; Sai Krupa Das; Peter S W Davies; Sanjoy Deb; Christine Delisle Nyström; William Dietz; Lara R Dugas; Simon Eaton; Ulf Ekelund; Asmaa El Hamdouchi; Sonja Entringer; Terrence Forrester; Barry W Fudge; Melanie Gillingham; Annelies H Goris; Michael Gurven; Hinke Haisma; Catherine Hambly; Daniel Hoffman; Marije B Hoos; Sumei Hu; Noorjehan Joonas; Annemiek Joosen; Peter Katzmarzyk; Kitty P Kempen; Brian Wood; IAEA DLW Database Consortium

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0152

Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty

Lewis G Halsey^* (Corresponding Author), Vincent Careau, Philip N Ainslie, Heliodoro Alemán-Mateo, Lene F Andersen, Liam J Anderson, Leonore Arab, Issad Baddou, Linda Bandini, Kweku Bedu-Addo, Ellen E Blaak, Stephane Blanc, Alberto G Bonomi, Carlijn V C Bouten, Pascal Bovet, Soren Brage, Maciej S Buchowski, Nancy Butte, Stephan G Camps, Regian CasperGraeme L Close, Lisa H Colbert, Jamie A Cooper, Richard Cooper, Prasangi Dabare, Sai Krupa Das, Peter S W Davies, Sanjoy Deb, Christine Delisle Nyström, William Dietz, Lara R Dugas, Simon Eaton, Ulf Ekelund, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Sonja Entringer, Terrence Forrester, Barry W Fudge, Melanie Gillingham, Annelies H Goris, Michael Gurven, Hinke Haisma, Catherine Hambly, Daniel Hoffman, Marije B Hoos, Sumei Hu, Noorjehan Joonas, Annemiek Joosen, Peter Katzmarzyk, Kitty P Kempen, Brian Wood, IAEA DLW Database Consortium

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

There is considerably greater variation in metabolic rates between men than between women, in terms of basal, activity and total (daily) energy expenditure (EE). One possible explanation is that EE is associated with male sexual characteristics (which are known to vary more than other traits) such as musculature and athletic capacity. Such traits might be predicted to be most prominent during periods of adolescence and young adulthood, when sexual behaviour develops and peaks. We tested this hypothesis on a large dataset by comparing the amount of male variation and female variation in total EE, activity EE and basal EE, at different life stages, along with several morphological traits: height, fat free mass and fat mass. Total EE, and to some degree also activity EE, exhibit considerable greater male variation (GMV) in young adults, and then a decreasing GMV in progressively older individuals. Arguably, basal EE, and also morphometrics, do not exhibit this pattern. These findings suggest that single male sexual characteristics may not exhibit peak GMV in young adulthood, however total and perhaps also activity EE, associated with many morphological and physiological traits combined, do exhibit GMV most prominently during the reproductive life stages.

Original language	English
Article number	20230152
Number of pages	5
Journal	Biology Letters
Volume	19
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0152
Publication status	Published - 20 Sept 2023

Bibliographical note

The authors also gratefully acknowledge funding from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. CAS153E11KYSB20190045) to J.R.S. and the US National Science Foundation (grant no. BCS-1824466) awarded to H.P.

Acknowledgements
Yvonne Schönbeck provided important information about morphometric measurements for Dutch children. A chat over dinner with Karsten Koehler, Eimear Dolan and Danny Longman brought up a number of thoughts that influenced this manuscript. The DLW database, which can be found at https://doublylabelled-waterdatabase.iaea.org/home, is hosted by the IAEA and generously supported by Taiyo Nippon Sanso and SERCON. We are grateful to the IAEA and these companies for their support and especially to Takashi Oono for his tremendous efforts at fundraising on our behalf.

Data Availability Statement

The data are provided in the electronic supplementary material.

Keywords

Adolescent
Young Adult
Female
Humans
Male
Adult
Puberty
Sexual Behavior
Reproduction
Energy Metabolism
Phenotype

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Halsey, L. G., Careau, V., Ainslie, P. N., Alemán-Mateo, H., Andersen, L. F., Anderson, L. J., Arab, L., Baddou, I., Bandini, L., Bedu-Addo, K., Blaak, E. E., Blanc, S., Bonomi, A. G., Bouten, C. V. C., Bovet, P., Brage, S., Buchowski, M. S., Butte, N., Camps, S. G., ... IAEA DLW Database Consortium (2023). Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty. Biology Letters, 19(9), Article 20230152. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0152

Halsey, LG, Careau, V, Ainslie, PN, Alemán-Mateo, H, Andersen, LF, Anderson, LJ, Arab, L, Baddou, I, Bandini, L, Bedu-Addo, K, Blaak, EE, Blanc, S, Bonomi, AG, Bouten, CVC, Bovet, P, Brage, S, Buchowski, MS, Butte, N, Camps, SG, Casper, R, Close, GL, Colbert, LH, Cooper, JA, Cooper, R, Dabare, P, Das, SK, Davies, PSW, Deb, S, Nyström, CD, Dietz, W, Dugas, LR, Eaton, S, Ekelund, U, Hamdouchi, AE, Entringer, S, Forrester, T, Fudge, BW, Gillingham, M, Goris, AH, Gurven, M, Haisma, H, Hambly, C, Hoffman, D, Hoos, MB, Hu, S, Joonas, N, Joosen, A, Katzmarzyk, P, Kempen, KP, Wood, B & IAEA DLW Database Consortium 2023, 'Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty', Biology Letters, vol. 19, no. 9, 20230152. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2023.0152

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title = "Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty",

abstract = "There is considerably greater variation in metabolic rates between men than between women, in terms of basal, activity and total (daily) energy expenditure (EE). One possible explanation is that EE is associated with male sexual characteristics (which are known to vary more than other traits) such as musculature and athletic capacity. Such traits might be predicted to be most prominent during periods of adolescence and young adulthood, when sexual behaviour develops and peaks. We tested this hypothesis on a large dataset by comparing the amount of male variation and female variation in total EE, activity EE and basal EE, at different life stages, along with several morphological traits: height, fat free mass and fat mass. Total EE, and to some degree also activity EE, exhibit considerable greater male variation (GMV) in young adults, and then a decreasing GMV in progressively older individuals. Arguably, basal EE, and also morphometrics, do not exhibit this pattern. These findings suggest that single male sexual characteristics may not exhibit peak GMV in young adulthood, however total and perhaps also activity EE, associated with many morphological and physiological traits combined, do exhibit GMV most prominently during the reproductive life stages.",

keywords = "Adolescent, Young Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Adult, Puberty, Sexual Behavior, Reproduction, Energy Metabolism, Phenotype",

author = "Halsey, {Lewis G} and Vincent Careau and Ainslie, {Philip N} and Heliodoro Alem{\'a}n-Mateo and Andersen, {Lene F} and Anderson, {Liam J} and Leonore Arab and Issad Baddou and Linda Bandini and Kweku Bedu-Addo and Blaak, {Ellen E} and Stephane Blanc and Bonomi, {Alberto G} and Bouten, {Carlijn V C} and Pascal Bovet and Soren Brage and Buchowski, {Maciej S} and Nancy Butte and Camps, {Stephan G} and Regian Casper and Close, {Graeme L} and Colbert, {Lisa H} and Cooper, {Jamie A} and Richard Cooper and Prasangi Dabare and Das, {Sai Krupa} and Davies, {Peter S W} and Sanjoy Deb and Nystr{\"o}m, {Christine Delisle} and William Dietz and Dugas, {Lara R} and Simon Eaton and Ulf Ekelund and Hamdouchi, {Asmaa El} and Sonja Entringer and Terrence Forrester and Fudge, {Barry W} and Melanie Gillingham and Goris, {Annelies H} and Michael Gurven and Hinke Haisma and Catherine Hambly and Daniel Hoffman and Hoos, {Marije B} and Sumei Hu and Noorjehan Joonas and Annemiek Joosen and Peter Katzmarzyk and Kempen, {Kitty P} and Brian Wood and {IAEA DLW Database Consortium}",

note = "The authors also gratefully acknowledge funding from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. CAS153E11KYSB20190045) to J.R.S. and the US National Science Foundation (grant no. BCS-1824466) awarded to H.P. Acknowledgements Yvonne Sch{\"o}nbeck provided important information about morphometric measurements for Dutch children. A chat over dinner with Karsten Koehler, Eimear Dolan and Danny Longman brought up a number of thoughts that influenced this manuscript. The DLW database, which can be found at https://doublylabelled-waterdatabase.iaea.org/home, is hosted by the IAEA and generously supported by Taiyo Nippon Sanso and SERCON. We are grateful to the IAEA and these companies for their support and especially to Takashi Oono for his tremendous efforts at fundraising on our behalf.",

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T1 - Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty

AU - Halsey, Lewis G

AU - Careau, Vincent

AU - Ainslie, Philip N

AU - Alemán-Mateo, Heliodoro

AU - Andersen, Lene F

AU - Anderson, Liam J

AU - Arab, Leonore

AU - Baddou, Issad

AU - Bandini, Linda

AU - Bedu-Addo, Kweku

AU - Blaak, Ellen E

AU - Blanc, Stephane

AU - Bonomi, Alberto G

AU - Bouten, Carlijn V C

AU - Bovet, Pascal

AU - Brage, Soren

AU - Buchowski, Maciej S

AU - Butte, Nancy

AU - Camps, Stephan G

AU - Casper, Regian

AU - Close, Graeme L

AU - Colbert, Lisa H

AU - Cooper, Jamie A

AU - Cooper, Richard

AU - Dabare, Prasangi

AU - Das, Sai Krupa

AU - Davies, Peter S W

AU - Deb, Sanjoy

AU - Nyström, Christine Delisle

AU - Dietz, William

AU - Dugas, Lara R

AU - Eaton, Simon

AU - Ekelund, Ulf

AU - Hamdouchi, Asmaa El

AU - Entringer, Sonja

AU - Forrester, Terrence

AU - Fudge, Barry W

AU - Gillingham, Melanie

AU - Goris, Annelies H

AU - Gurven, Michael

AU - Haisma, Hinke

AU - Hambly, Catherine

AU - Hoffman, Daniel

AU - Hoos, Marije B

AU - Hu, Sumei

AU - Joonas, Noorjehan

AU - Joosen, Annemiek

AU - Katzmarzyk, Peter

AU - Kempen, Kitty P

AU - Wood, Brian

AU - IAEA DLW Database Consortium

N1 - The authors also gratefully acknowledge funding from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. CAS153E11KYSB20190045) to J.R.S. and the US National Science Foundation (grant no. BCS-1824466) awarded to H.P. Acknowledgements Yvonne Schönbeck provided important information about morphometric measurements for Dutch children. A chat over dinner with Karsten Koehler, Eimear Dolan and Danny Longman brought up a number of thoughts that influenced this manuscript. The DLW database, which can be found at https://doublylabelled-waterdatabase.iaea.org/home, is hosted by the IAEA and generously supported by Taiyo Nippon Sanso and SERCON. We are grateful to the IAEA and these companies for their support and especially to Takashi Oono for his tremendous efforts at fundraising on our behalf.

PY - 2023/9/20

Y1 - 2023/9/20

N2 - There is considerably greater variation in metabolic rates between men than between women, in terms of basal, activity and total (daily) energy expenditure (EE). One possible explanation is that EE is associated with male sexual characteristics (which are known to vary more than other traits) such as musculature and athletic capacity. Such traits might be predicted to be most prominent during periods of adolescence and young adulthood, when sexual behaviour develops and peaks. We tested this hypothesis on a large dataset by comparing the amount of male variation and female variation in total EE, activity EE and basal EE, at different life stages, along with several morphological traits: height, fat free mass and fat mass. Total EE, and to some degree also activity EE, exhibit considerable greater male variation (GMV) in young adults, and then a decreasing GMV in progressively older individuals. Arguably, basal EE, and also morphometrics, do not exhibit this pattern. These findings suggest that single male sexual characteristics may not exhibit peak GMV in young adulthood, however total and perhaps also activity EE, associated with many morphological and physiological traits combined, do exhibit GMV most prominently during the reproductive life stages.

AB - There is considerably greater variation in metabolic rates between men than between women, in terms of basal, activity and total (daily) energy expenditure (EE). One possible explanation is that EE is associated with male sexual characteristics (which are known to vary more than other traits) such as musculature and athletic capacity. Such traits might be predicted to be most prominent during periods of adolescence and young adulthood, when sexual behaviour develops and peaks. We tested this hypothesis on a large dataset by comparing the amount of male variation and female variation in total EE, activity EE and basal EE, at different life stages, along with several morphological traits: height, fat free mass and fat mass. Total EE, and to some degree also activity EE, exhibit considerable greater male variation (GMV) in young adults, and then a decreasing GMV in progressively older individuals. Arguably, basal EE, and also morphometrics, do not exhibit this pattern. These findings suggest that single male sexual characteristics may not exhibit peak GMV in young adulthood, however total and perhaps also activity EE, associated with many morphological and physiological traits combined, do exhibit GMV most prominently during the reproductive life stages.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Young Adult

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Adult

KW - Puberty

KW - Sexual Behavior

KW - Reproduction

KW - Energy Metabolism

KW - Phenotype

U2 - 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0152

DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0152

M3 - Article

C2 - 37727077

SN - 1744-9561

VL - 19

JO - Biology Letters

JF - Biology Letters

IS - 9

M1 - 20230152

ER -

Greater male variability in daily energy expenditure develops through puberty

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this