Calorie Calculators Are Wrong for Four People in Ten: What the Best Prediction Equations Actually Achieve

Every online calorie calculator asks for your height, weight, age and sex, applies a formula, multiplies by an activity factor and returns a confident number. Two layers of estimation sit inside that number, and both carry substantial error. The first is the resting metabolic rate equation, which was fitted to a population that may not resemble you. The second is the activity multiplier, which is a coarse judgement about how much you move. Understanding how much error is actually involved changes what you do with the output - not discard it, but hold it far more loosely than the two-decimal-place display invites.

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