Individual variations in work output per unit energy intake in East Java

Abstract

East Javanese peasant farm workers with low energy intakes were as productive as workers with high energy intakes. Measurements indicated that work output produced by a given energy intake varied considerably in relation to the individual consumer and that the work efficiency of the consumer varied inversely in relation to the degree of undernutrition or energy stress. There may have been compensatory mechanisms such as higher levels of metabolic efficiency, lwoer basal metabolic rates, greater physical fitness, or stronger incentives to work enabling those on a low energy diet to produce more work per unit energy intake than individuals with relatively high energy intakes.