Effect of Breathing Exercises on Lung Capacity in Obese and Non-Obese Young Adults: An Experimental Study
Abstract: Background: Obesity is associated with reduced lung volumes, altered breathing mechanics and diminished ventilatory reserve. Breathing exercises are a simple, low-cost physiotherapy intervention, but evidence on their effect in obese young adults, relative to non-obese peers, is limited. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a two-week breathing-exercise programme on chest expansion, spirometric volumes and breath-hold time in obese and non-obese young adults, and to compare the magnitude of response between the groups. Methods: In this experimental pre-post study conducted in the Department of Physiotherapy, SVIMS, 29 adults aged 18-25 years (18 obese, 11 non-obese) performed diaphragmatic, pursed-lip and segmental breathing exercises for two weeks. Axillary and xiphoid chest expansion (inch tape), inspiratory and expiratory spirometric volumes (cc) and breath-hold time (s) were measured before and after the programme. Within-group changes were analysed with paired t-tests, between-group differences with Welch's t-tests, and effect sizes with Cohen's d/dz (? = 0.05). Results: Both groups improved significantly in inspiratory volume (obese +25.8%, non-obese +23.9%; both p 0.05). Conclusion: A two-week breathing-exercise programme improved spirometric volumes and breath-hold time in both obese and non-obese young adults, with comparable gains in the two groups. Controlled trials with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these findings.
Keywords: obesity; breathing exercises; diaphragmatic breathing; lung volumes; chest expansion; breath-hold time; physiotherapy; young adults
How to Cite?: M. Venkata Jahnavi, M. Tejaswini, Dr. K. Senthil Kumar, "Effect of Breathing Exercises on Lung Capacity in Obese and Non-Obese Young Adults: An Experimental Study", Volume 15 Issue 10, October 2026, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 320-324, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=SR261003164352, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/SR261003164352