Verification of maximal oxygen uptake in obese and nonobese children

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether a supramaximal constant-load verification test at 105% of the highest work rate would yield a higher VO_2max when compared with an incremental test in 10- to 12-yr-old nonobese and obese children. Methods: Nine nonobese (body mass index percentile = 57.5 ± 23.2) and nine obese (body mass index percentile = 97.9 ± 1.4) children completed a two-test protocol that included an incremental test followed 15min later by a supramaximal constant-load verification test. Results: TheVO_2max achieved in verification testing (nonobese = 1.71 ± 0.31 L min^-1 and obese = 1.94 ± 0.47 L min^-1) was significantly higher than that achieved during the incremental test (nonobese = 1.57 ± 0.27 L min^-1 and obese = 1.84 ± 0.48 L min^-1; P G 0.001). There was no significant group (i.e., nonobese vs obese)-test (i.e., incremental vs verification) interaction, suggesting that there was no effect of obesity on the difference between verification and incremental VO_2max (P = 0.747). Conclusion: A verification test yielded significantly higher values of VO_2max when compared with the incremental test in obese children. Similar results were observed in nonobese children. Supramaximal constant-load verification is a time-efficient and welltolerated method for identifying the highest VO₂ in nonobese and obese children.