Measuring Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure

Measuring Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure Henry J. Montoye, Han C. G. Kemper, Wim H. M. Saris, and Richard A. Washburn Measurement is a cornerstone of every field of science. This is certainly true in exercise science where lamentations about the accuracy of physical activity measures, particularly field measures, are found throughout the literature. Any researcher or clinician who decides to measure physical activity or energy expenditure is immediately confronted by a bewildering array of options, and until now there has been no single place to go for guidance. Measuring Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure will rapidly become recognized as the invaluable guide that has been needed for a long time. The authors, Drs. Montoye, Kemper, Saris, and Washburn, are recognized leaders in the field who have contributed much to the literature. The international composition of the authors enhances the comprehensiveness of coverage. This group contains experts in assessing children, adults, and the elderly; and, collectively, they have experience in all the major measurement methods. Because they have had to develop or select measures for many studies, they know what kinds of information will be useful to other researchers. Part I contains two brief chapters that introduce the issues and provide an overview of the principles and methods of laboratory measures of energy expenditure. Part II is much more extensive and reviews field methods of assessment. There is a chapter devoted to each category of measures: doubly labeled water, behavioral observations, diaries, questionnaires and interviews, and motion sensors. One of the chapters surveys methods of estimating energy expenditure from physiologic responses to activity, and there is a brief conclusions chapter. There are 16 appendices that include reproductions of many data collection forms, which will be a great convenience to researchers. The outstanding feature of the book is the impressive use of tables to summarize studies and their results. The tables go a long way toward meeting the authors' stated goal of making the book practical. Every chapter has tables that present characteristics of measures, along with reliability and validity data, that allow comparisons across measures. These tables contain enough specific data to be used by themselves to select the best measures for a study. There is even a table in the last chapter that compares relevant characteristics of each category of measure. The text complements the tables and contains useful information on advantages and disadvantages, historical perspectives, and implementing and interpreting the measures and their results. The book is concise (less than 200 pages, including appendices), presents the state-of-the-science in an authoritative manner, and is well written. It makes a unique contribution to the entire field of exercise science, and it will be widely used This volume provides valuable assistance in choosing among existing assessment instruments, but it does not instruct us enough on how to improve on what is now available. This is a minor failing, but more of the author's insights and specific suggestions may have inspired some improved measures. While new and better measures are being developed and evaluated,Measuring Physical Activity and Energy Expenditure should improve the quality of physical activity research by helping researchers select the best measures for their studies.