The Correlation between Body Mass Index, Maximum Inspiratory Pressure, and Vital Capacity in Elementary School Children Virna Agustriani 1 , Anitta Paulus 2 , Tresia Tambunan 1 1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusomo General Hospital, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia 2 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Persahabatan Hospital., Jakarta, Indonesia Keywords: Inspiratory Muscle Strength, Body Mass Index, Vital Capacity. Abstract: This study aimed to assess the correlation between Body Mass Index (BMI), Maximum Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Vital Capacity (VC) of elementary school children aged 8-12 years old. A cross sectional study was conducted to measure BMI, MIP, and VC among children residing in Central Jakarta. Exclusion criteria included a history of surgery in the chest area, neuromuscular disease, and cardiorespiratory problems. 27 subjects, who were eligible for the study, were divided into two groups, classified as normal or abnormal BMI group. MIP and VC were measured by digital manometer and spirometer respectively. Data were analyzed by the T-test and Pearson test. The differences of MIP and VC value in the normal and abnormal BMI group was found tend to higher of MIP in normal BMI group, i.e. 75.71 + 12.83 and 70.55 +16.4, and higher of VC in normal BMI group, i.e. 1.69 ± 0.27 amd 1.91± 0.47(p=0.025). There was moderate positive correlated between BMI and VC (r= 0.652, p<0.001), in contrast between BMI and MIP (r= 0.352, P = 0.071). Children with normal BMI has higher VC, while the higher of BMI has correlation with the higher of VC. 1 INTRODUCTION Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In this stage, children’s growth and development status were rapidly emerging. The growth of the children can be measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI) as a reflection of their nutritional status. Nutritional Status divided by 3 classifications such as normal, underweight, overweight, and obesity. In 2012, it was reported that all over the world, more than 40 million children aged ≥5 years were overweight or obese. (da Jung and Schivinski, 2014) Nowadays, obesity has become one major health issue in the world. Overweight and obesity has increased rapidly in populations and associated with several complications, such as hypertension, diabetes, psychosocial disorders which related to acceptance in the group, or removal of group activities, sleep apnea, and increased ventilatory demand. Obesity increased ventilatory demand which often accompanied by fatigue upon exertion and limitations to carry out some activities of daily living. (da Jung and Schivinski, 2014), which will lowered affected children’s quality of life. According to the physiology of respiratory function, obese people may have an altered ventilation distribution, with the risk of manifesting gas exchange abnormalities. There will be a reduction in spirometry test variables of functional residual capacity and expiratory reserve volume due to the presence of adipose tissue accumulation around the thoracic and abdominal surfaces. Furthermore, obesity will induce fat deposition in compartments, reduction of pulmonary compliance, damage to mechanical ventilation due to increased respiratory effort, potential inefficient respiration, and decreased ability to generate strength for breathing. On the other hand, underweight children have smaller muscle mass, which may affect the strength of respiratory muscle and diminishing lung capacity. Respiratory function was influenced by the skeletal structure, respiratory muscle strength, and lung volume. Respiratory muscle strength can be Agustriani, V., Paulus, A. and Tambunan, T. The Correlation between Body Mass Index, Maximum Inspiratory Pressure, and Vital Capacity in Elementary School Children. DOI: 10.5220/0009089502850289 In Proceedings of the 11th National Congress and the 18th Annual Scientific Meeting of Indonesian Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Association (KONAS XI and PIT XVIII PERDOSRI 2019), pages 285-289 ISBN: 978-989-758-409-1 Copyright c  2020 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved 285