Exercise tolerance Archives - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

PURPOSE:

To identify and relate body fat percentage (skin fold measures), body mass index
(BMI) and age at menarcheto aerobic capacity using the indirect VO₂
maximum value (VO₂ max) of girls in the second cycle of primary school.

METHODS:

A total of 197 girls aged 13.0±1.2 years on average, students from two public
schools in the city of Atibaia in São Paulo, were evaluated. Anthropometric
evaluation of skin folds was performed using the Slaughter protocol for teenage
girls, and BMI (kg/m²⁾ was based on "Z score" (graphic of percentile)
according to WHO recommendations. The Léger protocol was used to determine
VO₂ max. Pearson linear regression and the Student t-test were used
for statistical analysis.

RESULTS:

22.3% of the girls were overweight and 3.5% were obese according to the
classification proposed by the WHO; 140 (71.1%) girls reported menarche. The
average age at menarche was 12.0±1.0 years and was significantly higher in the
group with normal BMI (12.2±0.9 years) than in the overweight or obese groups
(11.6±1.0 years). The average indirect VO₂ max value was 39.6±3.7
mL/kg/min, ranging from 30.3 to 50.5 mL/kg/min. The advance of chronological age
and early age at menarche were positively correlated with lower VO₂ max
values.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study showed that 25.8% of the girls had aBMI value above WHO
recommendations. Girls with higher BMI and higher body fat percentage had lower
VO₂ max. The earlier age at menarche and the advance of
chronological age were the most important factors for the reduction of aerobic
capacity. The ageat menarche was higher in girls with adequate BMI compared
tooverweight or obese girls.