Abstract

Background: There is an increasing trend of obesity and it affects the physical fitness and person’s work output in medical students. VO2 max indicates person’s cardiovascular fitness.

Aims and Objectives: (i) To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and VO2 max by nonexercise test using NASA/Johnson Space Centre physical activity-rating (PA-R) scale in medical students. (ii) To evaluate the effect of the gender on VO2 max. (iii) To compare VO2 max in obese and nonobese students.

Materials and Methods: A total of 98 medical students aged between 17 and 19 years belonging to both the genders, were included for the study. The NASA/Johnson Space Centre PA-R scale was used for nonexercise protocol. VO2 max was calculated taking into account subjects PA-R score, his BMI and gender: (i) Equation for male students: VO2 max (ml/kg/min) = 67.350 – (0.381 × age [years]) – (0.754 × BMI) + (1.951 × PA-R), (ii) Equation for female students: VO2 max (ml/kg/min) = 56.363 – (0.381 × age [years]) – (0.754 × BMI) + (1.951 × PA-R). Statistical analysis was performed using Pearson’s correlation to know the association between BMI and VO2 max.

Results: The correlation factor for association between BMI and VO2 max was significantly negative (P < 0.001). The values of VO2 max were more in male gender and nonobese group.

Conclusion: Increasing BMI affects the VO2 max reducing the person’s cardiovascular fitness. Lifestyle modification should be adapted to keep the check on BMI and to improve the cardiovascular fitness.

Key words: Body Mass Index; VO2 max; Obesity; Physical Activity-rating Score