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.
Key words: Body mass index, oxygen, cardiopulmonary fitness, treadmill test
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