Age-specific association between percent body fat and pulmonary function in apparently normal children in Ogbomoso, Oyo state, Nigeria

Abstract

This study describes the association between percent body fat and pulmonary function among apparently normal twenty male children tidal volume aged 4 years and twenty male children aged 10 years in Ogbomoso. The mean functional residual capacity of the lung in male children aged 10 years was significantly higher than in male children aged 4 years (P<0.05). The mean tidal volume-functional residual capacity ratio were 0.32 ± 0.04 (SD) and 0.23 ±0.02(SD) in male children aged 4 years and 10 years, respectively. There was no significant difference between the mean tidal volume – functional residual capacity ratio in both age groups (P > 0.05). The mean percent body fat were 11.74% and 6.76% in male children age 4 years and 10 years, respectively. The mean percent body fat was significantly higher in male children aged 4 years than male children aged 10 years (P<0.001). There was a weak nonsignificant
positive correlation between the functional residual capacity of the
lung and percent body fat (r = 0.30; P= 0.05) in male children aged 10 years while a high significant positive correlation was observed between the functional residual capacity of the lung and percent body fat (r= -0.68;P=0.05) in male aged 4 years. The fact that the correlation between percent body fat and tidal volume-functional residual capacity ratio was high and significant (r = 0.76;P=0.001) suggests that the ratio might serve as an excellent marker to differentiate the nutritional state in both age groups in non-disease states (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 9:83 - 87, May 2006)

Keywords: percent body fat; pulmonary function; modelling equation; tidal volume and functional residual capacity ratio