THE METABOLISM OF OBESITY

Abstract

Previous papers of this series have dealt with the relation of food intake and body weight in obese subjects, 1 basal metabolism, 2 the specific dynamic action of foods 3 and the distribution of energy production after taking food. 4 The present communication will take up the mechanical efficiency of obese women as compared with that of normal and underweight subjects. Little has been written on this subject. Aside from the studies made on two obese subjects by Jaquet and Svenson, 5 the only paper which we were able to find having a direct bearing on our work was that reported by Gessler. 6 Their results will be discussed with ours later. EXPERIMENTAL WORK In this investigation forty-one experiments were conducted on twenty-seven obese women varying in weight from 60.9 to 118.6 Kg. (134 to 262 pounds) with a percentage overweight of from 12.2 to 110.1 as compared with the standards accepted by life insurance companies. 7