Date of Award

1-1-2012

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Department

Exercise Science

First Advisor

Steven N Blair

Second Advisor

Gregory A Hand

Abstract

The enrichment of any field of endeavor with new uncertainty is the primary indicator of genius and great scholarship. The former is achieved by looking at the same universe as one's antecedents but espying something novel (i.e., an absence that obligates creation or a manifestation of ignorance that must be removed for progress to commence). The latter is achieved by due diligence, a thorough perusal of the work of those upon whose shoulders you attempt to stand and by ceaselessly and tirelessly pursuing truth (i.e., statistically valid facts upon which accurate prediction may be predicated).

This dissertation is an attempt to briefly examine two disparate domains; first, the current `state-of affairs' regarding the measurement of energy requirements, energy expenditure, and their relationship with health, and second, to perform economic analyses of an existing health intervention. Multiple manuscripts were created to address these interdisciplinary and challenging topics. The initial report describes a novel method for the estimation of human food energy requirements by combining disparate data sources (i.e., demographic, anthropometrics and accelerometry). The manuscript describes the creation of the first objectively estimated physical activity level (PAL), nationally representative food energy requirements (FERs) for the United States (US) population The second manuscript examines the disparity between energy requirements and self-reported energy intake using a nationally representative, cross-sectional, statistically weighted sample of US adults, aged 20 to 74 (US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; NHANES: 2005-2006). The third manuscript is an examination of trends in energy expenditure from an oft-ignored form of physical activity energy expenditure: household management. The fourth and final manuscript is an economic analysis of the Lifestyle Education for Activity and Nutrition (LEAN) Study, a randomized control trial (RCT) of traditional and non-traditional (i.e., technology-based) behavioral weight loss interventions. Given the current state of health care expenditure, potential solutions to the obesity epidemic must both be efficacious and cost-effective.

Rights

© 2012, Edward C. Archer

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