FAO's development of the Adult Male Equivalent (AME) Concept

Robert Weisell & Marie-Claude Dop

Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division

Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN

Definition of Adult Male Equivalent (AME)

The energy requirement of a household or another food consumption unit expressed as a multiple of an adult male’s energy requirement.

Questions or Issued addressed

Why is the AME advocated ?

• To improve the analysis of HHFC&E surveys;

Questions or Issued addressed

Why not just use per capita consumption?

• HH members consume food in an attempt to meet their energy requirements which is largely dependent on body size and physical activity;

• However, HH members vary in body size and level of physical expenditure.

Issues addressed

• Calculation of AME;

• Examine the minimum type or level of data or information to determine the AME.

Review of Energy Requirements:most recent FAO/WHO Joint Expert

Consultations

• 1971 Expert Consultation (1973 Report)

• 1981 Expert Consultation (1985 Report)

• 2001 Expert Consultation (2004 Report)

Principle Concepts

• 1973 Report:

– intake approach (a circular argument)

– reference man and reference woman

• 1985 Report:

– Food intake => requirements for children <10

– requirements of the rest based on energy expenditure

– socially desirable activities accounted for

– exercise for cardiovascular & muscular fitness

Principle Concepts

2004 Report:

– requirements based on energy expenditure;

– socially desirable activities but considering varying levels of habitual physical activity;

– exercise for cardiovascular well-being and muscular fitness;

– more sophisticated calculation of energy needs during pregnancy and lactation.

2004 Report Factorial method

• based on Total Energy Expenditure (TEE)

• Adults (>18 yr) Two major components of TEE:

basal metabolic rate (BMR)

physical activity

• based on the duration of the different daily activities and related energy expenditure values.

• use of the integrated energy index (IEI)

energy expenditure of an activity with pauses and expressed as a multiple BMR; = to PAL value

Physical Activity Level (PAL) Total Energy Expenditure (TEE)

When expressed as a multiple of BMR over 24 hours = PAL

Thus BMR X PAL = TEE

1,600 kcal X 1.75 = 2,800 kcal

Development and calculation of the Adult Male Equivalent

Surveys using the AME (1)

Madagascar – 1962, national rural, 5000 HH

Brazil – 1970-75, nationwide, 55,000 families(IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estadïstica)

Peru - late 1970s

Surveys using the AME (2)

Tunisia – 1974-75, national HH budget and food consumption, 2,510 HHs

Côte d’Ivoire – 1979, national food consumpand expend, 720 rural & 1440 urban HHs

Cape Verde – 2001-2002, national FC & HH expenditure, 4550 HHs

The reason for FAO conducting surveys

• In the 1960’s FAO conducted the “Indicative World Plan”;

• Paucity of data on HH food consumption;

• FAO advocated suggested appending food consumption data collection to the household expenditure and budget surveys.

Two critical issues in calculating HH requirement

1. Attendance at meals (including guests), number of meals and where meals were consumed if not at home.

2. Determination of each participant’s energy requirement and then weighting it compared to a typical adult male.

To recap:

Problems/issues:

• Absences due to that person not eating or eating outside;

• Guests at the meal;

• Differences in the meal patterns among members: number and which meals);

• For any one person the difference in the meal pattern from week to week.

Example of a 4 HH members + a guest

• HH Member Sex Age Ref Wgt/Hgt

• Head HH Male 45 64

• Spouse Female 37 55

• Daughter Female 12 44

• Son Male 3 16

• Adult Guest Male Unknown 64

Effect of meal attendance on HH Req.

Day 1 Cons UnitMembers Breakfast Lunch Snack Dinner wgt of at Meal 0.16 0.43 0.11 0.30 meal attd

Head HH 0.16 0.11 0.30 0.57Spouse 0.16 0.43 0.30 0.89

Daughter 0.16 0.43 0.11 0.30 1.00Son 0.16 0.43 0.11 0.30 1.00

Guest 0.30 0.30Total CU* 3.76

* number of CUs is used to express intake per capita

Effect of meal attendance and AME on daily energy requirement

Day 1 AME Consumer AME Daily ReqMembers Units Wgt. by X mealat Meal meal attd. attend.

Head HH 1.000 0.57 0.57 1,604Spouse 0.806 0.89 0.72 2,018

Daughter 0.810 1.00 0.81 2,278Son 0.444 1.00 0.44 1,249

Guest 1.000 0.30 0.30 844Total 3.76 2.84 7,992

2,126 kcal 2,813 kcal

intake from hypo HH and in Cape Verde survey

Per cap Per AME

Hypothetical Family

2126 2813

Mean - Cape Verde Survey

1918 2619