Little kids burn so much energy, they’re like a different species, study finds

"Infants between the ages of 9 and 15 months expend a stunning 50% more energy in 1 day than adults do, adjusted for body size. .. infants are born with the same metabolic rates as their mothers .. but between 9 and 15 months, they rev up their cells to burn energy faster .. Children’s metabolic rates stay high until age 5, but the rate slowly begins to glide down until it plateaus around age 20. Interestingly, adult rates are stable until age 60, when they begin to decline. After age 90, humans use about 26% less energy daily .."

"The study also found that pregnant women don’t have higher metabolic rates than other adults; their energy use and calorie consumption scales up with body size. .. The metabolic rate didn’t zoom up in hungry teenagers either, which also makes the findings seem counterintuitive. 'When kids hit puberty, there seems to be a big spike in how many calories they’re consuming. In your 30s and 40s, people often feel like they slow down; when menopause hits, you slow down more.' But metabolic rate doesn’t change at those times. Hormonal changes, stress, disease, growth, and activity levels influence appetite, energy, and body weight."