METABOLIC REFERENCE STANDARDS FOR THE NEONATE

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Abstract
Oxygen consumption of 92 normally grown newborn babies of birth weight 750 to 3,940 gm has been expressed in terms of various metabolic reference standards in order to identify any systematic variation in expression of metabolic rate that is introduced by these bases of reference in the newborn population. It is postulated that differences in body composition comprise a contributory factor to the variation among newborn babies in rate of oxygen consumption per kilogram body weight. The predictive error from a mean value is increased if surface area, body weight, or fat-free body weight is substituted for body weight as a metabolic reference standard. By taking into account known changes in body composition of the fetus with increasing maturity, a compartment representing the active tissue mass is calculated. This corresponds closely to body weight minus extracellular fluid and includes fat. Rate of oxygen consumption is proportional to the size of this compartment over the range of body weights studied. Implications are discussed as to the metabolic rate of adipose tissue in the newborn and body composition among undergrown babies.

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