The objective of this course is to provide undergraduate students in Nutrition and Dietetics with an in-depth understanding of the human body’s energy metabolism, the components of total energy expenditure, and the laboratory and field methods used to measure or estimate these components. The course aims to equip students with the ability to assess physical activity levels at both the individual and societal levels using objective and subjective methods, interpret the obtained data in the fields of clinical and sports nutrition, and plan energy requirements as accurately as possible.

This course will cover the basic principles of energy metabolism, as well as the factors affecting basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total energy expenditure (TEE). In addition to gold-standard laboratory methods such as direct and indirect calorimetry and the doubly labeled water (DLW) technique, objective field methods such as accelerometers, pedometers, and heart rate monitoring will be examined. Furthermore, the reliability of subjective methods—such as questionnaires (IPAQ, Becke, etc.) and physical activity logs—and physical activity estimation equations will be discussed.