Cardiopulmonary Fitness and its Relation to Body Mass Index Among Female Students in Qassim University

Abstract

Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness is expressed by maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) which measures oxygen (O2) capacity of an individual performing 6 minutes treadmill exercise test. In this study, the cardiopulmonary fitness among female healthy University students in Al-Qassim University, Saudi Arabia was assessed, along with its association with body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and fat percentage. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed. Heart rate, weight, height, waist circumference, BMI, O2 consumption, blood pressure, and body fat percentage were measured before the participants underwent the exercise test and after 6 minutes treadmill exercise heart rate, O2 and blood pressure were measured again to calculate the VO2max. The subjects were divided into four groups (underweight, normal, overweight and obese). Results: There was a significant negative correlation between VO2max and heart rate after 6 minutes treadmill test for the underweight group (p = 0.0098) (r = -0.4716). A significant negative correlation was found after 6 minutes treadmill test between systolic blood pressure and VO2max in normal group (p = 0.0216, r = -0.4177). In overweight group, a significantly positive correlation between VO2max and systolic blood pressure after 6 minutes treadmill test (p = 0.0486) (r = 0.3631) was found. There was significant negative correlation between heart rate before 6 minutes treadmill test and VO2max in obese group (p < 0.0001, r = -0.7711). Conclusion: When BMI increases there is an increased level of VO2max, thus an increase in BMI is associated with increase in the level of VO2max in healthy young female students.