Estimating Energy Expenditure With the RT3 Triaxial Accelerometer

The RT3 is a relatively new triaxial accelerometer that has replaced the TriTrac. The aim of this study was to validate the RT3 against doubly labeled water (DLW) in a free-living, mixed weight sample of adults. Total energy expenditure (TEE) was measured over a 15-day period using DLW. Activity-related energy expenditure (AEE) was estimated by subtracting resting energy expenditure and thermic effect of feeding from TEE. The RT3 triaxial accelerometer was worn over 14 consecutive days. TEE and AEE were estimated using the RT3 proprietary equation. Thirty-six adults ages 18–56 years (56% women) with an average weight of 75.9 kg (SD = 14.8) completed all measurements. Compared to DLW, the RT3 underestimated TEE by 539 kJ (4%) and AEE by 485 kJ (15%) on average. The RT3 provided a relatively accurate assessment of free-living activity-related energy expenditure at the group level and generally underestimated total and activity-related energy expenditure compared to DLW.