OBJECTIVE: To perform a systematic review of observational studies that analyzed the relation between spirometric parameters and the presence of obesity in children and adolescents. DATA SOURCE: Data were selected without language restriction, using the following databases: PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Lilacs, and SciELO, with no restriction as to initial date until December 2010. The descriptors were extracted from Medical Subject Headings: "respiratory function tests" and "childhood obesity". SYNTHESIS OF DATA: 89 papers were initially found, but only five were selected. Observational studies reporting spirometric parameters and body mass index of the patients were included, and those that assessed pulmonary function by other methods and whose subjects were not exclusively children or enrolled patients with associated comorbidities were excluded. In order to assess the quality of these studies, the scale for observational studies of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was applied. All studies evaluated the forced vital capacity and the forced expiratory volume on the first second. Four papers also assessed the forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75%, forced expiratory flow at 50%, expiratory peak flow, and the relation between forced expiratory volume on the first second and forced vital capacity. CONCLUSIONS: The studies show consistent data and evidence of association between decreased spirometric values of forced vital and capacity and forced expiratory volume on the first second with obesity in children and adolescents.
obesity; children; adolescents; spirometry
