Abstract

Introduction

Materials & Methods

Results

Discussion & Conclusion

References

Discussion
Board

It has been well documented that obese children have a higher metabolic cost for walking and running, compared with their leaner peers. It is not clear, though, whether energy expenditure depends on the degree of adiposity. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to verify if there are differences in the energy cost of walking among children who vary in percent of body fatness (11-43%) and mass (27.1 - 82.5Kg). Twenty-three 8.5- to 13.5-year-old children volunteered for the study. At the first visit measurement of height, weight and %fat were taken, followed by a maximal oxygen uptake test (VO2max) using a 3-min multistage continuous 'all-out' treadmill protocol. During the second visit children walked on the treadmill for 4 minutes in each of the 5 selected and randomly assigned speeds: 3, 4, 5 kph, 50% and 75% of VO2max. VO2 and heart rate were measured continuously. Correlation between VO2 (L./min) and %fat were 0.89, 0.90 and 0.89 for boys walking at 3, 4,and 5kph, respectively. Respective r values for the girls were 0.48, 0.57 and 0.51. At 50 and 75% of VO2max the correlations were 0.54 and 0.44 for the boys and -0.35 and -0.37 for the girls. When we partialed out body mass from the correlation of VO2 and %fat, the r values dropped markedly for both genders. In conclusion, when body mass is partialed out, % body fat explains only a small variance in VO2 of walking, among children who vary in adiposity.

Back to the top.
Poster Number PAayub0701
Keywords: energy cost, gait, adiposity, children