This document provides instructions for calculating a person's daily calorie needs based on their weight and activity level. It defines sedentary, moderate, and high activity and provides formulas for multiplying a person's weight by 10, 13, or 20 to determine calorie needs for sedentary, moderate, or high activity respectively. It also addresses how calorie needs decrease with age and provides exercises to calculate calorie expenditure for a snack based on activity level.

1. Calculation of Energy Needs
1.
Define the word sedentary.
* activities that are included in a sedentary lifestyle are sitting
most of the day doing homework, computer work, and light
activities, such as cooking or dishwashing.
Moderate activity includes sitting some of the day, but engaging in
activities, such as brisk walking, standing activities requiring arm
and leg movement.
High activity includes strenuous activities throughout the day,
such as heavy labor and exercise, such as skiing, active games,
jogging, running, dancing.
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2. Calculation of Energy Needs
2.
Calculate roughly how many calories you should
consume in one day if you are sedentary by
multiplying your present weight by 10.
______________ X 10 = ______________________
present weight
sedentary calorie needs
3.
Calculate your calorie needs if you are moderately
active. An example of a lightly active person is a
student who is involved in a walking program.
Multiply your present weight by 13.
______________ X 13 = ___________________________
present weight
calories needed for light activity
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3. Calculation of Energy Needs
4. Calculate your calorie needs if you are highly
active. Daily exercise programs are considered
heavy activity. Multiply your present weight by 20.
_______________ x 20 = ___________________________
present weight
calories needed for heavy activity
5. The method used decreases energy needs by 100
calories for every ten years over the age of thirty.
Why might energy needs decrease over time?
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4. Calculation of Energy Needs
6. Examine a favorite snack food. Record
the number of calories.
__________________________
number of calories in snack
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5. Calculation of Energy Needs
7.
Figure sedentary energy needs per minute. Do this by dividing
your daily sedentary calorie need (answer to 2) by 24 (hours).
______________________
answer to 2
1.
24 = ______________________
energy needs per hour
Then divide the number of calories needed for sedentary activity
in one hour by 60 (minutes). This will yield energy needs per
minute.
______________________ ÷ 60 = ______________________
energy needs per hour
energy needs per minute
2.
This is a rough estimate. Activity in which most people engage
during a twenty-four hour period, such as walking, sitting, and
sleeping, uses varying amounts of food energy.
Copyright © Notice: The materials are copyrighted © and trademarked ™ as the property of The Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences, Texas Tech University.
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6. Calculation of Energy Needs
8. Figure how many minutes it would take
to use the energy in the food if you were
sedentary. Divide the number of calories
contained in your snack by the number
of calories you would burn in one minute
if you were sedentary.
____________ ÷ _____________________ = ____________________________
answer to #6
energy needs per minute minutes needed to use calories
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7. Calculation of Energy Needs
9. Calculate minutes
needed for moderate
activity.
10. Calculate minutes
needed for heavy
activity.
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Copyright © Notice: The materials are copyrighted © and trademarked ™ as the property of The Curriculum Center for Family and Consumer Sciences, Texas Tech University.