Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, Vol. 9, No. 4, 1987 The Stability of Resting Metabolic Rate and Diet-Induced Thermogenesis in Children Leonard H. Epstein, ~,2 Janet Wagner, 1 Sheila Nudelman, 1 and Bonita L. Marks ~ Accepted: June 18, 1987 The stability of resting metabolic rate and diet-induced thermogenesis was assessed in a group of 8- to 12-year-old children over two sessions. Children were first oriented to the laboratory and participated in a practice session to adapt them to the laboratory procedures. The two metabolic sessions be- gan with the measurement of resting metabolic rate. The children were then provided a caloric challenge, with metabolic measures taken at 30-min inter- vals for 150 min. Results showed stable resting and integrated diet-induced thermogenic responses across sessions. Differences in the pattern of response from 30 to 60 min were observed, with the response peaking earlier in the first session. KEY WORDS: resting metabolic rate; diet-induced thermogenesis; stability. INTRODUCTION Metabolic rate provides an integrated measure of energy utilization. These measures can be obtained at rest, after eating, or during exercise. Meta- bolic rate has been used in attempting to understand a variety of problems in behavioral medicine, such as eating disorders, weight regulation in smoking, and separating metabolic from nonmetabolic physiological changes that ac- company psychological stress (see review by Perkins, McKenzie, & Stoney, This experiment was supported in part by Grant HD 19532NICHD awarded to the first author. ~Behavioral Medicine Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 2To whom correspondence should be addressed at 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylva- nia 15213. 423 0882-2689/87/1200-0423505.00/0 9 1987 Plenum Publishing Corporation