Assessment of aerobic capacity in overweight young females: A cross-sectional study

CONTEXT: Overweight/obese people are prone to develop cardiovascular, respiratory and other chronic diseases at young age because of abnormal weight. Aerobic capacity (VO(2) max) is an accepted index of cardio respiratory fitness. Decrease in VO(2) max can be an early marker for altered cardiovascular physiology. OBJECTIVES: The present study was carried out with the objective of evaluating aerobic capacity in overweight young females and comparing it with that of normal weight females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three female subjects aged 18–20 years were enrolled in each group. Group 1 comprised overweight subjects and group 2 comprised normal weight subjects. Analysis to assess the difference in VO(2) max between the groups was done by unpaired t-test. RESULTS: Mean age of group 1 and 2 was 18.91 ± 0.67 years and 18.83 ± 0.78 years, respectively. Mean BMI in group 1 and 2 was 26.18 ± 1.06 kg/m(2) and 20.65 ± 1.5 kg/m(2) respectively. VO(2) max in groups 1 and 2 was 34.52 ± 3.26 ml/min/kg and 37.51 ± 2.88 ml/min/kg respectively. The difference in VO(2) max found in overweight girls was statistically significant with P value of 0.002. CONCLUSION: Overweight girls had significantly reduced, cardio-respiratory fitness when compared to normal weight young females.