Evolution, Activity, and Aging in Human Energy Expenditure

Herman Pontzer

Duke University

Metabolic energy expenditure, the combined activity of our 37 trillion cells, and shapes our daily energy requirements and affects our health. Conventional wisdom, born largely from clinical studies in industrialized populations, has held that daily energy expenditures are similar for closely related species, increase at a constant rate with body size through growth and development, and are strongly affected by physical activity levels. Recent work, including research with small-scale societies around the globe, has challenged each of these views. In this talk, I discuss these new insights and their implications for understanding human energy expenditure.