Effects of BMI difference on physiological and perceptual responses in hot environments

doi:10.16265/j.cnki.issn1003-3033.2025.10.1714

Abstract

Abstract:

To enhance the personalized thermal protection effectiveness for workers exposed to hot environments and clarify the individualized protection strategies with different body types, this study investigated the physiological and perceptual responses with different BMI in hot environments to explore individual thermoregulation capacity during heat exposure. First, two hot environments were set in a climate chamber, including neutral ((25.1±0.4)℃,(52.8%±1.9%)Relative Humidity(RH),0.1 m/s)and high temperature ((35.0±0.5)℃,(50.0%±2.9%)RH,0.1 m/s). Twenty male participants were recruited and divided into two groups: overweight (BMI ≥ 24) and underweight (BMI < 18.5). Second, participants were initially seated in neutral environment for 10 minutes, then performed alternating cycles of exercise and recovery in the hot environment. Physiological and perceptual responses parameters were recorded during the human trials. Finally, the regulatory mechanism of BMI on thermal responses and the extent of its impact were evaluated by analyzing the differences in subjective and objective indicators between the two groups of subjects. The results indicated that the two groups significantly (p<0.001) differed in core temperature, with the increase of 0.55 ℃ for the overweight group and 0.46 ℃ for the underweight group. The mean skin temperature of overweight and underweight participants increased by 4.2 and 2.9 ℃, respectively, indicating that overweight individuals were more sensitive to high temperatures. The total sweat rate and heart rate of overweight participants were significantly higher than those of underweight participants, while no significant difference was observed for heart rate between the two groups. Differences in BMI led to statistically significant differences in perceptual responses parameters (p<0.05), not only affecting the intensity of thermal responses but also inducing differences in the patterns of regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, individualized thermal protection strategies should be formulated based on body type characteristics.

Key words: hot environment, body mass index (BMI), perceptual responses, heat stress, climate chamber

CLC Number:

X968高低温防护

YANG Jie, MA Ruitian, WANG Xingming. Effects of BMI difference on physiological and perceptual responses in hot environments[J]. China Safety Science Journal, 2025, 35(10): 239-246.

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体型	数量	年龄/岁	身高/cm	体质量/kg	BMI/(kg·m^-2)	初始核心温度/℃	初始皮肤温度/℃
偏胖者	10	24.2±1.4	176±3	86.2±9.1	27.7±2.7	37.2	31.9
偏瘦者	10	24.6±1.5	175±3	52.4±3.9	17.1±1.4	36.8	33.1

设备	监测参数	备注
核心温度胶囊	核心温度	采样频率为2 次/min
皮肤温度监测仪	皮肤温度	—
心率监测仪	心率	采样频率为60次/min
精密台秤	出汗量	量程为100 kg、精度为10 g
跑步机	代谢率	—

主观评价参数	正态分布性	统计方法	方差齐性	p值
热感受	非正态分布	非参数性检验	—	0.136
热舒适	正态分布	t检验	方差齐	0.000
服装湿润度	正态分布	t检验	方差齐	0.001
皮肤湿润度	正态分布	t检验	方差齐	0.106
热疲劳程度	正态分布	t检验	方差齐	0.011