and inappropriate intake of calorie-rich easily available junk food has made the environment conducive to the development of obesity even in childhood. [3] The WHO classified obesity as follows: BMI of 18-24.9 kg/m 2 is considered normal weight, a BMI of 25.0-29.9 kg/m 2 is considered overweight, and a BMI of 30 kg/m 2 or higher is considered obesity. [1] Obesity is often associated with many health consequences such as diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, ischemic heart diseases, obstructive sleep apnea, stroke, premature death, osteoporosis, and a reduction of the overall quality of life. [4] Obesity can cause various deleterious effects to respiratory functions, such as alterations in the respiratory mechanics, decrease in respiratory muscle strength and endurance, decrease in pulmonary gas exchange, lower control of breathing, and limitations in pulmonary function tests. [5] The pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are the battery of tests that are used to assess the physiological respiratory efficiency of an individual. [6] The factors that usually affect the values of pulmonary function tests are age, gender, height, weight, race or ethnicity, Background: Obesity is considered to affect the respiratory functions. Objective: To evaluate the effect of obesity on pulmonary functions by spirometry among healthy young women. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 60 apparently healthy young women, who were further divided into two groups according to their body mass index (BMI). The first group consisted of nonobese subjects with a BMI of 18 to 24.9 kg/m 2 , and the second group consisted of obese subjects with a BMI of 30 kg/m 2 and above. All the subjects underwent spirometry tests of the following variables such as the forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), and forced midexpiratory flow (FEF 25%-75%). Results: After analyzing the data and comparing by independent sample t test, we did not observe significant differences in FEV1, FVC, and FEF 25%-75% between the obese and nonobese subjects. However, there was a significant difference in FVC/FEV 1 ratio and PEFR between the two groups (p = 0.036 and p = 0.048, respectively). Conclusion: Obesity has an impact on respiratory functions even in younger age group; therefore, they should be safeguarded against the hazards of obesity by taking corrective steps through our health programs.
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