Body fat predicts forced vital capacity in college males

Abstract

The study was designed to determine how body fat percentage (BF%), body fat distribution (BFD), and abdominal muscular endurance (AME) relate to pul-monary function (PF) as measured by the forced vital capacity (FVC), the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), the FEV1/FVC ratio, and the maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) among college (M= 22.82,SD = 2.45 yr) males (N= 60). Multiple regression analyses were calculated. A ceiling effect for AME was found; hence, AME was not used as a predictor variable in the multiple regression analyses. The distribution of MIP values was leptokurtic; therefore, MIP was excluded from the analysis. Body weight (p =.00) and body height (p=.03) were positively related to FVC. BF% was inversely (p=.05) related to FVC but was unrelated to FEV1 or FEV1/FVC. The predictor variable BFD was unrelated to FVC, FEV 1, or FEV 1 /FVC. In conclusion, increased proportions of fat were inversely related to FVC in college males.