A study of cardiovascular and respiratory parameters in obese and non-obese subjects resident in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The cardiovascular and respiratory parameters of obese and non-obese residents in Port Harcourt were studied using the University of Port Harcourt as a case study. The aim was to investigate the effect of obesity on the above -mentioned parameters. A total forty subjects (twenty males and twenty females) were used for the study. Twenty of the subjects were obese while the other twenty were non-obese and served as the control. Their ages ranged between eighteen and forty years. The parameters studied were body mass index, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR). The results of the investigation revealed a significantly higher heart rate, higher blood pressure, higher respiratory rate and peak expiratory flow rate among the obese subjects when compared to those of the non-obese subjects. This shows that obesity has effects on the cardio respiratory fitness of obese people.