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Pediatrics

Variance in respiratory quotient among daily activities and its association with obesity status

International Journal of Obesity volume 45, pages 217–224 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

The ability to adapt the level of daily fuel utilization to substrate availability is given by the respiratory quotient (RQ), which its variance is an indicator of metabolic flexibility. Metabolic inflexibility is associated with many pathologies including obesity, but evidence relies on bed-rest studies and exercise-based interventions. Our goal was to examine the associations for RQ variance in response to daily living activities with obesity, in healthy adults.

Subjects/methods

Participants (N = 50; 25 women), 20–64 years were lying for 60 min and randomly performed three conditions for 10 min each (sitting, standing, 1 sit/stand/sit transition min−1). RQ was measured by indirect calorimetry and fat mass (FM), trunk FM (TFM), and fat-free mass (FFM) by DXA.

Results

RQ variance among the three conditions was inversely associated with BMI (ß = 0.005; p < 0.001), FM (ß = 0.007; p = 0.024), and TFM (ß = 0.008; p = 0.026). A positive association was found between RQ variance and FFM (ß = −0.007; p = 0.024). No interactions for sex were found (p ≥ 0.05).

Conclusions

These findings suggest that a higher RQ variance in response to daily living metabolic challenges such as transitioning between sitting and standing is associated with lower overall and central obesity, as well as with a higher FFM, in healthy adults. Thus, RQ variance may work as an indication of metabolic flexibility, but these findings were obtained in a young and non-obese adult population without considering their fitness levels. Thus, further research in this field is warranted.

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Fig. 1: Regression curve estimation for the associations for RQ variance with FFM and the several obesity outcomes, namely BMI, FM, and TFM.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the participants for their time and effort. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. This investigation was conducted at Interdisciplinary Center of the Study of Human Performance (CIPER), I&D 472 (UID/DTP/00447/2020). PBJ is supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BPD/115977/2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Exercise and Health Laboratory, CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Cruz-Quebrada, Portugal

    Pedro B. Júdice, Luís B. Sardinha & Analiza M. Silva

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  1. Pedro B. Júdice
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  2. Luís B. Sardinha
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  3. Analiza M. Silva
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Correspondence to Pedro B. Júdice.

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Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Faculty Ethics Council (approval number: 14/2013) and conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards [22].

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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Júdice, P.B., Sardinha, L.B. & Silva, A.M. Variance in respiratory quotient among daily activities and its association with obesity status. Int J Obes 45, 217–224 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0591-x

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