Background: Obesity is becoming a serious public health issue in the world and is associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory diseases. Prolonged aerobic exercises are thought to improve aerobic capacity and to have a favorable effect on lung function. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the comparison the effects of six months of aerobic training on pulmonary function tests in obese and nonobese women.
Methods: The subjects of this study were nineteen healthy and inactive females assigned into the obese (N.=10) and nonobese (N.=9) groups. The exercise protocol included aerobic exercise training lasted for 6 months and 3 sessions per week and every session lasted for 60 minutes and with intensity of 55-65 percent of maximum heart rate reserve. Before starting program, the anthropometric measurements of subjects such as weight, percent body fat and body mass Index was measured by body composition analyzer and lung function tests were carried out by using a spirometer.
Results: Obese women have lower values of FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, PEF, Vt and MVV when compared with nonobese group but the difference did not reach significant level. Also, the results of this study showed that there are significant differences in FVE1 Index and MVV tests in obese and nonobese groups in pretest and post-test, but FVC Index increased significantly just in obese group.
Conclusions: It seems that if the training program is done in appropriate time and intensity, which leads to weight loss in obese people, it can lead to improve all Index of pulmonary function.