Relationship between body fat and shivering in air at 15 C

bchveen body fat and shivering in air at 15 C. j. Appl. Physiol. r6(3) : 42 ~-425. 1961.-Thirty-one men of widely varying body fat content were exposed to air at 15.2 C for 2 hr. Rectal and skin temperatures and metabolic rates were measured at IO, 40, and 80 min and at the end of the z hr. Shivering was rated on a five-interval scale. Under these conditions thick sub-cutaneous fat provided insulation as indicated by lower skin temperatures, less shivering, and lower oxygen consumption in the fatter men. The findings rule out simple relationships between measured temperatures and shivering, leading to other possibilities and approaches to the study of shivering. T HE INSULATING VALUE ofsubcutaneous fat u nder some conditions has long been recognized (r-3). Swift (T) reported in taneous fat. method. He concluded, subcuta.neous fat do not xgy on the rela tion of shivering to su bcu-Subcutaneous fat was estimated by a caliper the reactions of the subjects to cold, it is apparent that the chief reason for the tremendous variation in response to cold of different subjects is the amount of protection afforded by the insulative fat.... Inasmuch as subcu-taneous fat seems to protect the cold sense nerve endings, the effective fat must lie between them and the surface.” “Though the measurements of confirm in a quantitative way We have described (4) correlations between body fat and skin and rectal temperatures in 31 men exposed thermally nude to ambient conditions of I 5.2 C for 2 hr. Under these conditions the linear regression from I 7c to I g % body fat measured by the skin pinch method (5) indicated a difference of.7 C in rectal temperature. T, = 36.48 C +.036x, where x is percentage of fat. This difference in fat produced 3.3 C difference in skin temperature with a linear regression of T, = 28.57 C