Effect of Obesity on Pulmonary Functions among the Adolescent Students of a Private University in Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is a risk factor for many conditions including respiratory disorders. However, studies investigating pulmonary functions in obese adolescents from Malaysia are few in number. Aim: To investigate the effect of obesity on pulmonary function variables in the adolescent obese students of a private university in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A Cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in a total of 100 (50 obese and 50 non obese control) adolescent students of both sexes aged 16- 19 years. Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1 ), FEV1 as a percentage of FVC (FEV1 / FVC%), maximum mid expiratory flow rate (FEF25-75%) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were measured using a computerized spirometer (Spirobank II MIR via Del Maggiolino125, 00155 Roma, Italy). Body weight, height, Waist Circumference (WC) and Hip Circumference (HC) were measured. Student’s t-test and Pearson’s product moment correlation (r) were used tointerpret the data. The p-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results: There was no significant difference in mean pulmonary function parameters between obese and non-obese control group. However, five obese subjects had mild restriction, whereas no obstructive impairment was detected in any subject of the obese and control groups. In obese group, BMI, WC, HC and Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) had negative significant (p<0.01) correlation with FEV1/FVC%, whereas FVC and FEV1 had positive significant (p<0.05) correlation with WC and HC. However, in normal weight control group, FVC and FEV1 had positive significant association with WC and WHR, whereas, rest of the dynamic pulmonary measurements had no significant correlation with measured anthropometric obesity indices. Conclusion: Our study did not find any significant effect of obesity/overweight on dynamic lung volumes among adolescent students. Significant negative correlation between BMI, WC, HC and WHR with FEV1 /FVC% suggests that obesity decreases FEV1 / FVC% and obese are more prone to obstructive lung diseases.