Pulmonary function is related to basic physical fitness and physical activity in college students

The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between pulmonary function, basic physical fitness (PF), and physical activity (PA), and to compare the differences by gender in Korean college students. Measurements of body composition, basic PF, PA (questionnaire), and pulmonary function tests of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) using a Quark pulmonary function test were carried out on 312 healthy participants (150 males [mean age: 19.29±1.72 years] and 162 females [mean age: 19.05±1.17 years]). The pulmonary function of male students was related to right-handedness, left-handedness, and back strength, and the pulmonary function of female students was related to all basic PF. The pulmonary function of male students was related to all PA variables, whereas the pulmonary function of female students was related to middle-intensity PA. The findings of this study suggest that male students need to increase PA, and female students need to improve basic PF to sustain a healthy pulmonary function. Understand gender differences for pulmonary function-related factors and the gender-specific educational efforts are needed to improve and maintain pulmonary capacity in college students.