View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Springer - Publisher Connector Dynamic Medicine BioMed Central Research Open Access Modeling transitions in body composition: the approach to steady state for anthropometric measures and physiological functions in the Minnesota human starvation study James L Hargrove*†1, Grete Heinz†2 and Otto Heinz2 Address: 1Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia, Dawson Hall, Athens, GA, USA 30602 and 224710 Upper Trail Drive, Carmel, CA, USA 93923 Email: James L Hargrove* -
[email protected]; Grete Heinz -
[email protected]; Otto Heinz -
[email protected] * Corresponding author †Equal contributors Published: 7 October 2008 Received: 17 July 2008 Accepted: 7 October 2008 Dynamic Medicine 2008, 7:16 doi:10.1186/1476-5918-7-16 This article is available from: http://www.dynamic-med.com/content/7/1/16 © 2008 Hargrove et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: This study evaluated whether the changes in several anthropometric and functional measures during caloric restriction combined with walking and treadmill exercise would fit a simple model of approach to steady state (a plateau) that can be solved using spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel®). We hypothesized that transitions in waist girth and several body compartments would fit a simple exponential model that approaches a stable steady-state. Methods: The model (an equation) was applied to outcomes reported in the Minnesota starvation experiment using Microsoft Excel's Solver® function to derive rate parameters (k) and projected steady state values.