Nafas Journal

Abstract

Background: With the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, obesity-related diseases have increased in this special group. Also, it has been illustrated that the increasing prevalence of obesity is mainly considered as a threat on their respiratory system. In this case, intense aerobic exercise and arginine administration becomes a hottest research area due to their numerous physiological effects on various body systems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of 8-week of intense aerobic exercise and arginine administration on pulmonary function in boys with obesity.

Method: In this quasi-experimental study, 20 adolescents with obesity were randomly divided into two groups: 1) intense aerobic exercise and placebo (n = 10) and 2) intense aerobic exercise with arginine supplement (n = 10). In this study, anthropometric indices and respiratory gases were also evaluated 48 h before the study’s interventions and 48 hours following the last training session using body composition analyzer as well as gas analyzer and tape recorder, respectively. Dependent and independent t-students at the level p <0.05 were as well used to analyze the differences within and between groups, respectively.

Results: Regarding the within and between group differences, anthropometric results demonstrated that changes in body mass, fat mass and lean mass were statistically significant (p <0.05). Furthermore, respiratory gases analysis also exhibited that within and between group changes in VO2max, VO2peak, RER, ROU, S, MV, VEO2, VECO2, TV, and T ​​variables ​​in the intense aerobic exercise and placebo and intense aerobic exercise with arginine supplement groups exercise and placebo groups and supplement compared to the baseline values were statistically significant (p <0.05).

Conclusion: It seems that intense aerobic exercise and arginine administration have significant effects on the body composition and respiratory parameters of the adolescent with obesity. Also the current study was one of the fewest studies which conducted in this special population to determine the effect of intense aerobic exercise and arginine administration on respiratory parameters, but, the complex mechanism and the nature of the simultaneous effect of this type intervention on the respiratory function in this special population may encourage future research to pay more attention in this area.