Differences in Ventilatory Patterns between Overweight and Normal Weight Children during Rest, Low, Moderate and High Speed Exercise

This study examined if overweight youth have modified ventilatory patterns at rest and during low, moderate and high speed exercise, compared to normal weight youth. Eighty OW (>85th) were matched for age, sex and height with 80 NW (>5th and =85th) youth. Data was collected at rest and then during three exercise speeds (4 km/h, 5.6 km/h, and 8 km/h). Metabolic rates were higher for the OW in all conditions. Multiple regression analyses revealed that VE, VT, fR and VD were greater in the OW than NW (p0.05). Correlations between VE and PETCO2 were significant for all conditions for the OW, but only at rest for the NW. Findings suggest that overweight children must meet greater metabolic demands during exercise by increasing their VE via VT and fR; the possible stimulus may be CO2