• Indication
• Pros and cons
• Practical considerations
• Resources required
• References
• Examples and links

• Physical activity assessment
• Methods
• Doubly labelled water
• Pros and cons

Pros and cons

Pros

• Gold standard method for measuring total energy expenditure in free-living subjects
• Does not interfere in participant’s daily activity/relatively low participant burden/’black box’ for participant
• Provides criterion validity for estimates of total energy expenditure and reported energy intake

Cons

• The method is expensive due to the price of ¹⁸O
• Mass spectrometry is also expensive
• Does not give a direct measure of energy expended in physical activity which is derived and there are assumptions to this calculation
• Does not give any indication of the intensity, frequency, duration or domain of physical activity

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