Investigation of the associations among lateralization, psychological status, anthropometric measurements, exercise capacity and body mass index in adults.

Obesity which is characterized by the increase of body fat mass leads to many health problems. It is an important risk factor for a lot of illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.This study aims to investigate the associations among preferences of hand, eye and foot, aerobic exercise capacity, skinfold thicknesses, body circumference measurements, waist to hip ratio, and body fat percentage on the basis of body mass index (BMI) in adults.For the study, a total of 60 obese (30 women, 30 men) participants with the BMI over 30 kg/m2 and a total of 60 healthy controls (30 women, 30 men) with the BMI of 18-25 kg/m2 were taken. Skinfold thicknesses and body circumference measurements were performed using tape measure. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max(ml/kg/min) was determined by Astarand submaximal exercise protocol. Psychological status was assessed by ?Beck depression inventory? and ?Beck anxiety inventory?. Preferences of hand, eye and foot were determined using ?Oldfield hand preference questionnaire?, ?Miles test?, and ?a question? respectively. Statistic analyses were done by SPSS 16.0 computer program using ?t test?, ?chi- square? and ?Pearson correlation? tests.All measurements for body circumference and skin fold thickness as well as waist to hip ratio and body fat % were found to be higher in obese groups in comparison to the controls; while VO2max(ml/kg/min) values were lower in both genders. In male, Beck anxiety inventory scores and mild-level anxiety percentage values were higher in obese group than the controls.VO2max(ml/kg/min) showed negative correlations with BMI, body fat %, sum of skinfolds and abdomen circumference and waist to hip ratio in both males and females. On the other hand, Beck anxiety inventory scores showed positive correlations with BMI, body fat %, sum of skinfolds and abdomen circumference in both genders. Additionally, Beck anxiety inventory scores showed positive correlations with waist to hip ratio, and negative correlations with VO2max(ml/kg/min) in females. Miles test scores showed positive correlations with BMI, body fat %, sum of skinfolds and abdomen circumference in females.The fact that aerobic exercise capacity being found lower in obese males and females in comparison to the normal weighted people and also Beck anxiety inventory scores and mild-level anxiety percentage values being higher in obese males show the existence of a condition that might constitute an increased tendency for many disorders. In addition, the attitudes of people for obesity changed depending on the gender in Turkey were determined. It might also be thought that lateralization of eyes towards to the right in females may be associated with obesity.Key words: Obesity, body composition, aerobic exercise capacity, psychological status, anthropometry, lateralization, body mass index.?