Cardiorespiratory Fitness and its Relationship with Adiposity Indices

Abstract

Introduction: The cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and obesity greatly influence the cardiovascular health. Decrease in maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) and increase in fat mass can be used as an early marker for cardiovascular disease risk. The objective of this study was to assess the CRF and observe the relationship between CRF and adiposity indices. Methods: A cross sectional observational study was performed in 174 students (87 males and females each) of National Medical College. The subjects were assessed for different adiposity indices; BMI, body adiposity index (BAI), total body fat percentage (BF %) and waist circumference (WC). VO2max was calculated from recovery pulse rate after Queen's College Step Test. VO2max was correlated separately with each parameter of body composition using Pearson’s correlation test. Results: The VO2max of male and female participants were 47.22 ± 9.09 and 35.67 ± 5.36 ml/kg/min respectively. The correlation of VO2max was significant with all the studied adiposity indices. WC (r= - 0.41, p< 0.001) and BF% (r= -0.38, p< 0.001) correlation with CRF was highly significant in male whereas in female correlation was highly significant with BMI (r= 0.49, p< 0.001), WC (r= -0.40, p< 0.001) and BF% (r= -0.56, p<0.001). VO2max correlated best with waist circumference in male (r= - 0.41, p< 0.001) and BF% in female (r= -0.56, p<0.001). Conclusion: This study concludes that there is an adverse relationship between CRF and adiposity indices and females have low level of cardiorespiratory fitness.