Study of anthropometric indices and it’s co-relation with blood pressure in young healthy individuals

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obesity are shown to be independent risk factors for hypertension by several epidemiological studies. A practical, inexpensive and easily performed method for evaluation of body fat is anthropometry. Hence the present study was undertaken to explore association between anthropometric indices and blood pressure and determine efficacy of neck circumference to identify overweight subjects and define NC cutoff levels for overweight and obesity.Methods: Cross sectional, comparative study conducted on apparently healthy medical college students, 150 having parental history of hypertension and 150 without a parental history of hypertension. Height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, neck circumference, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, waist- height ratio, and blood pressure were measured. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: Prevalence of pre-hypertension is 42.33%. 54.33% pre-hypertensive subjects had family history of hypertension but there is no statistically significant association between family history of hypertension and pre-hypertension. Neck circumference correlated with BMI, WC, W/H ratio (p<0.05) indicating that NC could be a useful screening tool. NC cutoff values determining overweight & obesity in this study is >33.30 cm in females and >37.15 cm in males. 61.76% and 38.98% pre-hypertensive males and females respectively have BMI above 25Kg/m² in comparison to 19.51% normotensive males and 20.88% normotensive females.Conclusions: Study reveals development of hypertension is attributable to overweight and obesity and no statistically significant relationship has been established between family history of hypertension and risk for developing hypertension. NC>37.15cm for males and >33.30 cm for females was the best cut off levels for determining overweight/obese subjects.