MAXIMAL OXYGEN UPTAKE IN RELATION TO AGE IN BLIND AND NORMAL BOYS AND GIRLS

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Abstract
Maximal O2 uptake (.ovrhdot.VO2 max) was measured in 180 children during exhaustive work on a bicycle ergometer. The material comprised 12 blind boys and 11 blind girls (8-14 yr) and 82 normal boys and 75 normal girls (8-17 yr). .ovrhdot.VO2 max increased linearly with age in all 4 groups. In normal girls, mature values were reached at the age of 14 yr. Normal boys had significantly higher values than normal girls and their .ovrhdot.VO2 max increased faster with age. No sex differences in .ovrhdot.VO2 max were found in blind children. Normal children had significantly higher values than the blind. .ovrhdot.VO2 max/kg was uninfluenced by age in 3 of the groups: 55, 45 and 37 ml/min per kg in normal boys, blind boys and blind girls, respectively. In normal girls, .ovrhdot.VO2 max/kg decreased with age from 51 to 42 ml/min per kg. Significant sex differences were found in normal and blind children. .ovrhdot.VO2 max/kg in blind boys was 82% of that of normal boys, while blind girls had significantly lower values than normal girls. Most of these differences were already established by the age of 8 yr. Differences in .ovrhdot.VO2 max between normal and blind children are, to a large degree, due to different levels of physical activity during early childhood.