Aerobic capacity, activity levels and daily energy expenditure in male and female adolescents of the Kenyan Nandi Sub-Group

Votruba, S.B., Gibson, A.R., Ojiambo, R., Konstabel, K., Lieberman, D.E., Reilly, J.J., Speakman, J.R. and Pitsiladis, Y.P. (2013) Aerobic capacity, activity levels and daily energy expenditure in male and female adolescents of the Kenyan Nandi Sub-Group. PLoS ONE, 8(6), e66552. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066552) (PMID:23805234) (PMCID:PMC3689839)

Abstract

The relative importance of genetic and socio-cultural influences contributing to the success of east Africans in endurance athletics remains unknown in part because the pre-training phenotype of this population remains incompletely assessed. Here cardiopulmonary fitness, physical activity levels, distance travelled to school and daily energy expenditure in 15 habitually active male (13.9±1.6 years) and 15 habitually active female (13.9±1.2) adolescents from a rural Nandi primary school are assessed. Aerobic capacity () was evaluated during two maximal discontinuous incremental exercise tests; physical activity using accelerometry combined with a global positioning system; and energy expenditure using the doubly labelled water method. The of the male and female adolescents were 73.9±5.7 ml. kg−1. min−1 and 61.5±6.3 ml. kg−1. min−1, respectively. Total time spent in sedentary, light, moderate and vigorous physical activities per day was 406±63 min (50% of total monitored time), 244±56 min (30%), 75±18 min (9%) and 82±30 min (10%). Average total daily distance travelled to and from school was 7.5±3.0 km (0.8–13.4 km). Mean daily energy expenditure, activity-induced energy expenditure and physical activity level was 12.2±3.4 MJ. day−1, 5.4±3.0 MJ. day−1 and 2.2±0.6. 70.6% of the variation in was explained by sex (partial R2 = 54.7%) and body mass index (partial R2 = 15.9%). Energy expenditure and physical activity variables did not predict variation in once sex had been accounted for. The highly active and energy-demanding lifestyle of rural Kenyan adolescents may account for their exceptional aerobic fitness and collectively prime them for later training and athletic succes

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Pitsiladis, Dr Yannis and Reilly, Prof John and Konstabel, Dr Kenn and Gibson, Mr Alexander
• Authors: Votruba, S.B., Gibson, A.R., Ojiambo, R., Konstabel, K., Lieberman, D.E., Reilly, J.J., Speakman, J.R., and Pitsiladis, Y.P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
• Journal Name: PLoS ONE
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• ISSN (Online): 1932-6203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 The Authors
• First Published: First published in PLoS ONE 8(6):e66552
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License