A 16-week multidisciplinary programme integrating medical, nutritional, exercise and psychological support significantly improves lung performance, body composition, and cardiorespiratory fitness in teenagers with obesity, highlighting the benefits of a team-based approach to weight management.
A multidisciplinary weight-loss programme may help improve lung function and cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents with obesity, while also reducing body fat and increasing muscle mass, according to a study published in Pediatric Research and reported by SANA. The findings add to growing evidence that structured programmes combining medical, nutritional, exercise and psychological support can do more than reduce weight alone.
The research team, based at Clermont Auvergne University and Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital in France, followed 92 teenagers with an average age of about 13 through a 16-week intervention. The study assessed lung function, body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness before and after the programme, which is designed to reflect a broader, team-based approach to weight management.
Researchers found improvements in several measures of respiratory performance, including forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second and average expiratory flow, alongside better ventilation efficiency during exercise. The teenagers also lost body weight, total fat mass, trunk fat and visceral fat, while lean mass rose and overall cardiorespiratory fitness improved. The association between stronger lung performance and lower fat levels suggests that changes in body composition may play an important role in breathing capacity, the researchers said.
The latest findings fit with earlier studies showing that multidisciplinary weight-loss interventions can improve health markers in adolescents with obesity. Research indexed in PubMed has found that teenagers with better starting cardiorespiratory fitness may gain more from such programmes, while other studies in Scientific Reports and the International Journal of Obesity have shown that structured exercise and dietary change can improve fitness and body composition without harming growth and development. Earlier work in Pediatric Pulmonology also suggested that interdisciplinary treatment can improve lung function in obese adolescents with asthma, reinforcing the value of comprehensive care.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
