Obesity can cause deleterious effects on respiratory function and impair health and quality of life.
An obese group, constituted of 20 women between 20 and 35 years old with a BMI of 35 – 49.99 kg/m 2 who were non-smokers and sedentary and had no lung disease were recruited. The non-obese group consisted of 20 women between 20 and 35 years old who were sedentary and non-smokers and had no lung disease and a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.99 kg/m 2. Spirometry was performed in all subjects. The statistical analysis consisted of parametric or non-parametric tests, depending on the distribution of each variable, considering p < 0.05 to be statistically significant.
The obese group presented a mean age of 25.85 ± 3.89 years and a mean BMI of 41.1 ± 3.46 kg/m 2, and the non-obese group presented a mean age of 23.9 ± 2.97 years and a mean body mass index of 21.91 ± 1.81 kg/m 2. There were no significant differences between the obese group and the non-obese group as to the age, vital capacity, tidal volume, forced vital capacity, and forced expiratory volume in one second. However, the obese group presented a greater inspiratory reserve volume (2.44 ± 0.47 L vs. 1.87 ± 0.42 L), a lower expiratory reserve volume (0.52 ± 0.32 L vs. 1.15 ± 0.32 L), and a maximal voluntary ventilation (108.5 ± 13.3 L/min vs. 122.6 ± 19.8 L/min) than the non-obese group, respectively.