The effects of adiposity and weight change on forced expiratory volume decline in a longitudinal study of adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether changes in anthropometric measures are related to lung function decline. DESIGN: A national 7-y follow up study in Great Britain. SUBJECTS: 3391 adults aged 18 ± 73 y at baseline. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome measure was change in forced expiratory volume in one second (D FEV 1 ), adjusted for age, height and sex. This was related to changes in weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hips circumference and waist to hip ratio. RESULTS: Changes in weight, body mass and waist circumference, adjusted for confounders including mean level, were all associated with changes in FEV 1 (P`0.001), with all effects stronger in men than women (P`0.05). Change in waist to hip ratio was related in men (P 0.01), but not in women (P 0.34). A 10 kg weight increase induced an additional fall in FEV 1 of 96 ml (95% con®dence interval (95% CI 65 ± 127 ml) in men, and 51 ml (95% CI. 27 ± 75 ml) in women. In men, the effect increased with average weight and obesity and was more pronounced in middle age. This phenomenon was not present in women, possibly due to gender differences in weight distribution in later adult life. Smoking did not appear to in¯uence the magnitude of effect in either sex. The detrimental effect of weight gain on FEV 1 in subjects that stopped smoking between studies appeared small in comparison to the bene®t of smoking cessation. CONCLUSION: Increases in adult body mass are predictors of FEV 1 decline, especially among older and heavier men, where weight reduction may signi®cantly slow lung function decline.

The freshman weight gain: a model for the study of the epidemic of obesity

“…[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Freshman weight gain DA Levitsky et al colleges, they may also be responsible for much of the weight gain evident in freshmen as evidenced from this study. The questionnaires indicated that students felt that they ate more in such dining facilities and were left with a greater sense of 'fullness', suggesting that the portions served were considerably larger than in alternative eating establishments.…”

“…The greater variety of foods offered in such dining facilities and the ease of obtaining food have been shown to increase human energy intake. [16][17][18] Outside the dining hall, the easy accessibility of 'junk foods' in dormitories and classrooms may also contribute to the excessive weight gain because humans do not appear to 'calorically compensate' for food that is consumed between meals. 16,17 The increase in body weight observed in the present study of freshmen (158 g/week) is equivalent to eating approximately 42 kJ (174 kcal) more each day than corresponding to energy expenditure.…”

Noninvasive assessment of the tension–time index of inspiratory muscles at rest in obese male subjects

“…[1][2][3][4][5] The most prominent change in respiratory function in obesity is a reduction in functional residual capacity (FRC) due to the effect of the abdominal contents on the position of the diaphragm. 4 This implies a reduction in expiratory residual volume (ERV), which is often so marked that FRC can approach the residual volume (RV).…”

Variation of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate With Body Mass Index in the First Year Male Medical Students of Viswabharathi Medical College, Kurnool

“…The sta scal significance of the results was similar to our study. In the study conducted by Carey et al [21] on obese healthy subjects suggests that both total respiratory resistance and airway resistance increased significantly with the level of obesity, disclosing a significant linear rela onship between airway conduc on and func onal residual capacity.…”