Table below shows the amount of calories burnt in various activities per minute.
Note:
1 km = 0.6214 miles
1kg = 2.2 lbs
| Activity | Cal. burnt per Minute |
| Laying still/Sleeping | 1.0 |
| Sitting, standing, reading, writing, playing cards, eating | 1.5 |
| Driving car | 2.0 |
| Washing floors, ironing, sweeping | 2.2 |
| Playing Golf | 2.5 |
| Walking 5km/hr | 3.0 |
| Walking 7km/hr | 4.5 |
| Walking 5km/hr | 9.0 |
| Gardening, Weeding | 5.0 |
| Cycling (depends upon speed) | 3.5 to 8.0 |
| Boxing, Rowing | 12.0 |
| Dancing | 5.0 |
| Table Tennis | 5.5 |
| Tennis | 6.0 |
| Swimming 3km/hr | 9.0 |
| Football | 8.0 |
| Running (depends upon speed) | 10 – 25 |
The chart above gives values for calories burnt by a person of average weight i.e 60kg. People with higher or lower weight will burn calories in proportion to their weight. A person with 80kg weight will burn 80/60 * values in the right column above.
Now let’s have a look at daily calories requirements:
| Age | Calorie Requirements per day |
| Up to 6 Months | 120 calories per kg body weight |
| 7-12 months | 100 calories per kg body weight |
| 1-3 years | 1200 calories |
| 4-6 years | 1500 calories |
| 7-9 years | 1800 calories |
| 10-12 years | 2100 calories |
| 13-15 years (boys) | 2500 calories |
| 13-15 years (girls) | 2200 calories |
| 16-18 years (boys) | 3000 calories |
| 16-18 years (girls) | 2200 calories |
| Men (light work) | 2200 calories |
| Men (medium work) | 2800 calories |
| Men (Heavy work) | 3400 calories |
| Women (light work) | 1900 calories |
| Women (medium work) | 2200 calories |
| Women (heavy work) | 2800 calories |
Calories requirements however depend mainly upon age, body weight and occupation of the person. Above chart shows average calories required for a medium weight person.
For older people calories requirements are reduced by:
40-49 – 5%
50-59 – 10%
60-69 – 20%
Over 70 – 30%
The above chart does not show calories requirements for expected or lactating mothers. For expected mother 300 calories are required per day as extra where as lactating mothers require 700 calories extra per day.
Important Notes:
The calories which are not utilized by the body as a fuel, is stored in the body in the form of fat. It is important to note that storage of 3500 calories in the body would increase the weight of the body by 1 pound.
There are 3 sources of calories in the body i.e. carbohydrates, fats and proteins. 1 gm of carbohydrates release 4 calories, 1 gm of protein also releases 4 calories whereas 1 gm of fat (like butter) releases 9 calories. It is recommended that 60% of calories required by of body should be obtained from carbohydrates, 30% via fats and remaining 10% through proteins.
