Background:The blood pressure and anthropometric measurements are important for evaluating the health of children, adolescents as well as adults.Aim:The aim is to study the blood pressure and body dimensions and to find out the prevalence of overweight/obesity and hypertension among adults.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted of all the people belonging to the Punjabi community, residing in Roshanara area and Jaina building in Delhi, for the past 20 years and aged 18-50 years. The men were engaged in transport business and women were mainly housewives.Results:Mean values of all the measurements, that is, height, weight, upper arm circumference, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were higher among males as compared with females, except skinfold thicknesses. Body mass index (BMI) and fat percentage was found to be higher among females as compared with males. There was a significant positive correlation between BMI, fat percentage, and blood pressure both SBP as well as DBP. Odds ratio showed that overweight/obese subjects were more likely to have hypertension than those with normal BMI.Conclusion:Prevalence of prehypertension among overweight/obese suggested an early clinical detection of prehypertension and intervention including life style modification, particularly weight management.

The present study was conducted on Jain population residing in Delhi to elucidate the effectiveness of various anthropometric indices as cardiovascular risk. A cross sectional sample of 48 adult Jain females (mean age=50.5yr) and 62 adult males (mean age=47.4yr) was studied. Various anthropometric and physiological measurements were taken on each subject. In the present study BMI was found to be a greater risk factor for cardiovascular health among Jain females supported by strong correlation of BMI with blood pressure [SBP, p<0.01 and DBP, p<0.001], by high ' ' values [ =0.578 for SBP and = 0.762 for DBP] and by high odds ratio for hypertension [2.3 times more for DBP]. The waist height ratio was found to be a good cardiovascular risk-screening tool among adult Jain males as revealed by a significant positive association of WHtR with blood pressure [DBP, p<0.05], by high ' ' value [ =0.526 for SBP and = 0.599 for DBP] and by elevated odds ratio for hypertension [21.9 times more for SBP and 3.9 times more for DBP]. Our study clearly revealed the gender specificity and relative effectiveness of anthropometric indices in prediction of cardiovascular health among Jain adults [BMI in Jain females and WHtR in Jain males].

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Objective. Asthma life quality (ALQ) test has been used in many countries for the diagnosis of asthma and it has been proved to be useful also. The present study aimed to validate the ALQ test for the positive diagnosis of asthma and to assess its severity.Methods. Two hundred doctor-diagnosed bronchial asthma patients and 200 control subjects were studied. Standard form of ALQ test was used. Patients with bronchial asthma were categorised into mild-to-moderate and severe asthma categories. Receiver operating characteristic curve was plotted to determine the cut-off for ALQ score to assess the severity of asthma among adults in Delhi.Results. The mean (± standard deviation) values for ALQ score were higher in patients with asthma compared to control subjects (15.0±3.9 versus 0.7±0.9; p<0.001). Significantly higher mean ALQ score was seen in patients with severe asthma compared to those with mild-moderate asthma compared to those with severe asthma (18.1±2.0 versus 13.1±3.5; p<0.001). At a cut-off value of 16.5, ALQ had a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 84%, area under curve was 0.887 (p<0.001) for the diagnosis of severe asthma. Conclusions.Asthma life quality test appears to be a useful tool to diagnose and assess severity of bronchial asthma.