How do my calorie needs change as I age?
Published on
24 Oct 2023
Published by
The Straits Times
I’m in my 50s and I’ve heard that it’s normal to burn fewer calories as I get older. Is this true?
You can think of burning calories as step one of being alive, said Dr Herman Pontzer, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University in North Carolina. Food gives your body the fuel it needs to stay healthy, he said.
Your age – among several other factors – can have a big effect on how many calories you need to maintain your body’s weight and basic functions, Prof Pontzer and other experts said.
Here is what to know.
How your age affects the calories you burn
The size of your body is the most important factor that affects your calorie requirements, Prof Pontzer said. “The bigger you are, the more calories you need.”
But your life stage is also crucial, he added.
Babies and children, for example, require fewer calories than adults simply because they are smaller. But when you calculate how many calories they use relative to their body size, it is more than what adults use because they are growing and developing, Prof Pontzer said.
Being more physically active also increases the number of calories you burn, said Dr Anna Maria Siega-Riz, a nutrition professor and dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the lead author of a 2023 report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that estimates the calorie needs of people in the United States and Canada.
According to that report, an inactive, 91kg, 40-year-old man would need about 2,700 calories a day to maintain his weight and basic bodily functions. But if he were an athlete training for a couple of hours each day, he would need about 3,500 calories a day.
The same report estimates that starting around age 19, calorie requirements drift down a bit each year – by about 11 calories annually for men and seven for women, said Dr Susan Roberts, a senior associate dean of foundational research at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine.
A 77kg woman who walks for 60 to 80 minutes each day, for example, would need 2,450 calories a day at age 20. At age 60, however, that would drop to 2,150 and, at 80, it would be 2,000.
This age-related drop in calorie burn is usually most noticeable in one’s 60s and beyond, Dr Roberts said, possibly manifesting in weight gain or a less robust appetite. As you age, you tend to lose muscle and gain fat, which burns fewer calories, she said. And your brain – the body’s most metabolically active tissue – naturally shrinks in size and requires less energy, she added.
It is also common for people to become less physically active as they age, further reducing the number of calories they burn each day, Prof Siega-Riz said.
You can estimate your own calorie requirements using an online calculator. Keep in mind that such calculators can provide only a general picture of what you should consume. Your actual needs will vary according to your daily activities, genetics and other factors, Prof Siega-Riz said.
If you are wondering whether you are consuming the right amount, the best way to check is to weigh yourself every so often, Prof Siega-Riz said. If your weight is relatively stable, then you are eating an appropriate number of calories.
But for some people, a hyper-focus on the scale can create or worsen anxieties about food and weight, Prof Siega-Riz said, so weigh yourself only as often as you are comfortable.
What burning fewer calories means for your eating habits
The good news is that you probably will not need to do much calorie counting as you age because your appetite should naturally ebb to match your needs, Prof Pontzer said.
But as you get older, it is important to make sure you are getting the right balance of nutrients, Dr Roberts said.
For instance, research suggests that beginning in your 50s, your body needs more of certain nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin B6, vitamin D and protein, even though you are likely eating fewer daily calories overall.
Because of that, Prof Siega-Riz said, you will need to dedicate more of your daily calorie budget to foods that give you bigger bang for your buck nutrient-wise – fruit, vegetables, whole grains and lean sources of protein.
Dr Roberts agreed. When you are in your 20s and 30s, she said, “you can still have calories left over for chocolate, beer or a piece of cake”. But if you are in your 80s and consuming only about 1,500 calories a day, there is less room for treats, she said.
Dr Roberts thinks it is wise for older adults to take a multivitamin supplement to help fill in any nutritional gaps. But even then, a good diet is still necessary to ensure you are getting other important nutrients, including protein, fibre and healthful plant-based compounds, she said. NYTIMES
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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