HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) A corrigendum has been published Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (27) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Levine, J. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Levine, J. A.

INVITED REVIEW

Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): environment and biology

Endocrine Research Unit, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905

Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything that is not sleeping, eating, or sports-like exercise. It includes the energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, undertaking agricultural tasks, and fidgeting. NEAT can be measured by one of two approaches. The first is to measure or estimate total NEAT. Here, total daily energy expenditure is measured, and from it "basal metabolic rate-plus-thermic effect of food" is subtracted. The second is the factoral approach, whereby the components of NEAT are quantified, and total NEAT is calculated by summing these components. The amount of NEAT that humans perform represents the product of the amount and types of physical activities and the thermogenic cost of each activity. The factors that impact a human's NEAT are readily divisible into environmental factors, such as occupation or dwelling within a "concrete jungle," and biological factors such as weight, gender, and body composition. The combined impact of these factors explains the substantial variance in human NEAT. The variability in NEAT might be viewed as random, but human and animal data contradict this. It appears that changes in NEAT subtly accompany experimentally induced changes in energy balance and are important in the physiology of weight change. Inadequate modulation of NEAT plus a sedentary lifestyle may thus be important in obesity. It then becomes intriguing to dissect mechanistic studies that delineate how NEAT is regulated into neural, peripheral, and humoral factors. A scheme is described in this review in which NEAT corresponds to a carefully regulated "tank" of physical activity that is crucial for weight control.

energy expenditure; physical activity; obesity; malnutrition

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. N. Healy, D. W. Dunstan, J. Salmon, E. Cerin, J. E. Shaw, P. Z. Zimmet, and N. Owen Breaks in Sedentary Time: Beneficial associations with metabolic risk Diabetes Care, April 1, 2008; 31(4): 661 - 666. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W G Thompson, R C Foster, D S Eide, and J A Levine Feasibility of a walking workstation to increase daily walking Br. J. Sports Med., March 1, 2008; 42(3): 225 - 228. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Thompson, A. M. Batterham, S. Bock, C. Robson, and K. Stokes Assessment of Low-to-Moderate Intensity Physical Activity Thermogenesis in Young Adults Using Synchronized Heart Rate and Accelerometry with Branched-Equation Modeling J. Nutr., April 1, 2006; 136(4): 1037 - 1042. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. M. Novak, C. M. Kotz, and J. A. Levine Central orexin sensitivity, physical activity, and obesity in diet-induced obese and diet-resistant rats Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, February 1, 2006; 290(2): E396 - E403. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Passlick-Deetjen and E. Bedenbender-Stoll Why thermosensing? A primer on thermoregulation Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., September 1, 2005; 20(9): 1784 - 1789. [Full Text] [PDF]