Abstract

Introduction. Overweight and obesity are among the greatest global challenges of the 21st century. In Poland, the number of overweight children has tripled in the last 20 years. In order to determine the level of aerobic capacity as well as the selection of forms and intensity of physical training in children with excess body weight, many methods are used, e.g. 6-minute walk test (6MWT) or spiroergometric test (CPET).

Aim od the study. The aim of the study was to evaluate the performance parameters of children with excess body weight in comparison to children with proper body weight. Additionally, an attempt was made to answer the question whether the results of the indirect method efficiency assessment are consistent with the results of the spiroergometric test.

Material and methodology. The research was carried out in a group of 25 children with excess body weight (study group; BMI 93.7 ± 4.11 percentile) and 25 children with normal body weight (control group; BMI 28 ± 19.62 percentile) aged 8-12 years. The tests consisted of 3 parts: 1) measurement of body weight, body height and body weight composition; 2) ergospirometric test (CPET) carried out on a cycloergometer using the Godfrey ramp type protocol; 3) assessment of aerobic capacity based on the result of the 6MWT test.

Results. There were significant differences in the VO2 / kg result in the studied children between the study group (26.2 ± 4.32 ml / kg / min) and the control group (36.2 ± 5.75 ml / kg / min) and the results of the 6MTW test in the study group was 486.5 ± 86.35 m, and in the control group 519.6 ± 85.40 m.

Conclusions. There were no differences in the value of the VO2peak parameter in children from the study and control groups; however, differences in the result of VO2 / kg were noticed. Children with hight BMI characterized by a greater difference between the observed and expected value of 6MWT than children with proper body weight.

Key words:

children’s aerobic capacity, CPET, 6MWT, excess body weight, high BMI